Onir, Director of BFI Flare Selection ‘Pine Cone,’ Talks LGBTQ Cinema in India: ‘The Queer Gaze Is Missing’ (EXCLUSIVE)
15.03.2024 - 07:25
/ variety.com
Naman Ramachandran Onir, one of a handful of out and proud Indian filmmakers, is speaking out about the current scenario for LGBTQ filmmakers in the country. “There are a lot of non-Indian queer films and series available on streaming and also a lot of queer short films and reel videos being made across the country. Having said that, I feel the mainstream industry and streaming platforms when it comes to queer content are mostly still taking baby steps, and also looking at our stories from a very heteronormative gaze,” Onir told Variety.
“The queer gaze is largely missing. What is disappointing is that it’s largely about a tick mark of having done the right thing — right from actors to platforms and studios that use the phrase ‘but we are already doing one queer story.’ I don’t understand what that means. We are not one homogeneous story, we have many stories.
As long as we are still othered as ‘they,’ our stories will never find the space it deserves,” Onir added. After breaking through in 2005 with “My Brother… Nikhil,” one of the few Bollywood films to examine AIDS and same-sex relationships, Onir’s latest film “Pine Cone” is set to hold its U.K. premiere at the BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival.
“Pine Cone,” the story of gay director Sid, unfolds over key dates for gay rights in India, including the landmark day when homosexuality was decriminalized, recounting three different encounters in his love life. In “Pine Cone,” in the very first scene, the protagonist mentions that an Indian army-related film has not been cleared. In 2021, Onir was trying to make a sequel to his 2010 anthology film “I Am,” titled “We Are.” The first story “We are Faheem & Karun,” inspired by a former Indian army major, was a love
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