BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
The best documentary feature award category includes Indian and International films made in 2011/2012. There are five films competing in this category – Ballroom Rules from Australia, Let The Butterflies Fly from India, Looking For Gay Bollywood from France / India, My Dear Gay Teacher from India, Rites of Passage from USA/ Thailand, and Tales Of The Waria from USA / Indonesia and
BALLROOM RULES
76 mins, Australia
Dir: Nickolas Bird, Eleanor Sharpe
A group of Australian same-sex ballroom dancers are passionate about their sport and are driven by a dream of competing at the world’s largest same-sex dancesport competition at the 2010 Gay Games in Germany. Can they make the cut?
Screening: Alliance Française de Bombay May 25, 1.30 pm
LET THE BUTTERFLIES FLY
74 mins, India
Dir: Gopal Menon
Story of Shilpa, a hijra who faced severe police torture and abuse from the medical establishment, who tried to make her a ‘man’ by force.
Screening: Alliance Française de Bombay May 26, 1.30 pm
LOOKING FOR GAY BOLLYWOOD
52 mins, France / India
Dir: Nasha Gagnebin
The documentary deals with the representation of queers in Indian cinema and particularly within Bollywood.
Screening: Cinemax May 25, 3.15 pm
MY DEAR GAY TEACHER
46 mins, India
Dir: Saraswati Kavula
An attempt to explore the personality behind the persona called Hoshang Merchant. Is his Public Life as a poet and a professor in one of India”s best universities, a reflection on the acceptability of homosexuality?
Screening: Cinemax May 24th, 1.30 pm as part of ‘Rainbow Warriors’ package
RITES OF PASSAGE
46 mins, USA / Thailand
Dir: Jeff Roy
Story of the gender transformation of Maya Jafer, known to her blood relatives as Mohammed Jafer, the film is an honest first-hand look at the real-life struggles and joys Maya, and indeed other transgenders, face.
Screening: Cinemax May 24, 3.15 pm
TALES OF THE WARIA
56 mins, USA / Indonesia
Dir: Kathy Huang
In Indonesia, lives a community of transgender individuals known as Warias, biological men who live openly as women. The documentary follows four characters from this little-known community.
Screening: Cinemax May 26, 10.00 pm
