Mega Cities - Short Docs Film Festival, Paris
NIDRA
I always wanted to tell this story. Nidra (Sleep) is the unspoken story of gender discrimination even in sleep. ‘She’ is a model of every woman. She desires to sleep to her heart’s content. Like a corpse. It’s her long time desire. But not able. I always wondered how my mother gets up every day before the sun. I thought she had super powers. Before I realised why, I was already in the same position. When she was younger and could sleep without trouble, her mother would wake her up with a noisy splash of water asking her to study. Even on Sundays, there was no respite because she had to clean her house and do laundry. After she hit puberty, her mother would say that young women should not sleep for too long. She thought the only way to get a good night’s sleep would be after getting married. After marriage, a husband comes in the way of a wife’s sleep. After a tiring long day and late night sleep, the milkman knocks on the door even before it day.
The landlady shouts out to fill water. She has to fulfil her responsibility to prepare breakfast and send her husband to the office. Just as sleep kept eluding her, the kids came along. When they were awake, they wouldn’t let her sleep. Whenever she wants to sleep, they are awake. When they grew up she stayed up for their studies. When they were away, she’d wait till they came home safely. And when grandchildren come along, the same cycle repeats. I dare to say, ‘There is gender inequality even in sleep.’ I want to thank Abhuri Chaya Devi for the inspiration.
Valigiri Sreenija, Filmmaker, Nidra
Mira
Prize-winning film at Jyoti Filmato National Film Festival, Bangalore
Mira is a short film that showcases a thought-provoking clash between individual freedom and a tyrannical institution. Well, that sounds elementary enough to effortlessly side with the former. But how about putting it this way: a thought-provoking situation where a menstruating girl wishes to perform an Indian, patriarchal, sacred ritual? Ooh, it’s intense now, isn’t it? This thought always creates a spine-chilling effect in me. Despite being inspired by pantheism and freedom of choice, the thought still creates that effect in me. After all, that’s how I was brought up all these years: to never question my religious practices lest I should sin. But come on! It’s my youth. They say it’s the age to be, rebel, and become. So, here I am with my dear friends, Sanjana, Elina and Kodhai, and our almost five-month old hard work and passion (if you don’t count the seven-month break we had to take in between owing to COVID lockdown and graduation hehe). Mira. I’m still proud to say, “She’s our baby.” The conflicting thoughts, twitchy frustration and hushed loneliness that Mira go through in the film were what I had gone through in Jan, 2020. When my Ammama had passed away then, I just wanted to spend time with my family to share our grief and move on from the loss. But when my womanhood had showed up that day, my family moved away from me.
It was just me and the empty bedroom for the next seven days. And of course, by the time I was allowed downstairs again, everything had been over. I liked my Ammama a lot, yeah. But I had a compliant heart. Hence, I was okay to sacrifice my days for the sake of my family’s religious sentiments. However, then I began to wonder. What would the case have been if I had been closely attached to my Ammama? What would the case have been if I had disputed these sentiments? So many questions, left unanswered. Coupled with the opportunity to make a film, we began working – the result is Mira. Gatha Durgadas, Scriptwriter, Mira I ’m glad that we made this film. It discussed a topic otherwise we never spoke of. Those watched it said that it’s a much needed topic to be spoken about and it was a bold move from our side to make a film on such a taboo topic as menstruation. This film will open doors to more discussions and spread awareness, especially supporting all the women out there. I hope that more students will explore such grey areas and make many films. I am glad to hear that it has motivated other students to make a short films of their own. Sanjana Thomas, Cinematographer and Editor, Mira
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