OUR FAMILY
•October 3, 2007 • No Comments
Directed by KP Jayasankar and Anjali Monteiro
Produced by the Centre for Media and Cultural Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India
Enquiries: sales.cmcs[AT]tiss.edu
2007, 56 mins, Tamil with English subtitles
Camera: KP Jayasankar, Script, Editing, Sound Design: Anjali Monteiro and KP Jayasankar
What does it mean to cross that line which sharply divides us on the basis of gender? To free oneself of the socially constructed onus of being male? Is there life beyond a hetero-normative family?
Set in Tamilnadu, India, ‘Our Family’ brings together excerpts from Nirvanam, a one person performance, by Pritham K. Chakravarthy and a family of three generations of trans-gendered female subjects. Aasha, Seetha and Dhana, who are bound together by ties of adoption, belong to the community called Aravanis (aka Hijras, in some parts of India). Aasha Bharathi, the grandmother, is the president of the Tamilnadu Aravanigal Association, Chennai. Seetha, the daughter lives with her male partner Selvam, in Coimbatore. Dhana, Seetha’s adopted daughter also lives with her and shuttles between her adopted and her natal families.
The film juxtaposes the ‘normality’ of their existence with the dark and powerful narrative by Pritham- ‘Nirvanam’; Nirvanam (Liberation) refers to the act of liberating oneself from the male body and transforming oneself to a female. This narrative bears witness to the tumultuous journey towards a reinvented selfhood, a journey fraught with violence, exploitation, affection and courage. The pains, pleasures and dilemmas of becoming the ‘other’ is the motif of the film. Weaving together performance, life histories and everyday life, it problematises the divides between ‘us’ and ‘them’.
Awards
Jury’s Citation: ” Our Family for its compassionate and sensitive portrayal of the third sex – their bonding and their aspirations. The film traces their roots sourced from mythology combined with a mesmerizing one-person performance of the traumas and stigma experienced by their community”
Jury’s Citation: “For an innovative narrative that gives ‘voice’ to a marginalized people and ‘moments of truth’ that sensitize its viewers.”
Jury’s Citation: “For innovative and subtle sound design, with an interesting use of music.”
Jury’s Citation: “For the lyrically quiet, unobtrusive and sensitive pacing of the
film.”
About the Directors
Anjali Monteiro is Professor, and K.P. Jayasankar is Professor, Centre for Media and Cultural Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. Monteiro has a Masters degree in Economics and a Ph.D. in Sociology. Jayasankar has an M.A. in German language and a Ph.D. in Humanities and Social Sciences. Both of them are involved in media production, teaching and research. A presiding thematic of much of their work has been a problematising of notions of self and the other, of normality and deviance, of the local and the global, through the exploration of diverse narratives and rituals. These range from the stories and paintings of indigenous peoples to the poetry of prison inmates. Jointly they have won twenty one national and international awards for their films. These include the Prix Futura Berlin 1995 Asia Prize for Identity- The Construction of Selfhood, a Special Mention of the Jury at MIFF `96 for Kahankar: Ahankar, the Certificate of Merit at MIFF `98 and Best Innovation, Astra Film Festival 1998, Sibiu, Romania for YCP 1997, the Second Prize for Saacha at the New Delhi Video Forum 2001 and the Best documentary award at the IV Three Continents International Festival of Documentaries 2005, Venezuela, for SheWrite. Their most recent awards are the Special Jury Award at the Signs 2007 Festival, held in Thiruvananthapuram, Certificate of Merit, Mumbai International Film Festival 2008, Indian Documentary Producers Associuation (IDPA) Gold for Best Sound Design, Gold for Best Script and Silver for Editing for the film Our Family.
They have several papers in the area of media and cultural studies and have contributed to scholarly journals such as Cultural Studies. They are both recipients of the Howard Thomas Memorial Fellowship in Media Studies, and have been attached to Goldsmith’s College, London and the University of Western Sydney. Monteiro has been awarded a Fulbright visiting lecturer fellowship for 2006-07 at the University of California, Berkeley. They also serve as visiting faculty to several leading media and design institutions across India, such as Asian College of Journalism, Chennai, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad and University of Hyderabad and Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai. They are both actively involved in ‘Vikalp‘ and ‘Films for Freedom’, which are collectives of documentary filmmakers campaigning for freedom of expression. They are also associated with various media and voluntary organisations.
CREDITS
Performance and Interviews
Pritham Chakravarthy
Editing, Sound Design and Subtitles
K.P. Jayasankar
Anjali Monteiro
Location Sound
Elangovan R.
Camera and Graphics
K. P. Jayasankar
Script and Direction
Anjali Monteiro
K. P. Jayasankar
Produced by
Centre for Media and Cultural Studies
Tata Institute of Social Sciences
Mumbai 400 088, India
Telephone: +91 22 25563290 Fax: +91 22 2556 2912
E-mail: cmcs.tiss@gmail.com
URL: www.tiss.edu/cmcs www.ourfamily2007.wordpress.com
REVIEWS
Saturday, Apr 19, 2008
http://www.hindu.com/mp/2008/04/19/stories/2008041950710300.htm
Prismatic family
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| The film, Our Family, in its free-flowing narrative portrays three generations of trans-genderedwomen |
FAMILY OF FOUR The film subverts popular notions of the State, community and family in the patriarchal world
In a radical alternative to notions of the State, community and family, filmmakers Anjali Monteiro and K.P. Jayasankar, professors at the Centre for Media and Cultural Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai attempt to change our notion of the family. Their film, “Our Family”, subverts all ideas of the family whether they are patriarchal, biological or heterosexual, to give it new dimensions and dynamics.The film, set in Tamil Nadu, sways between the lives of the family of three generations of three extraordinary trans-gendered women – Aasha, Seetha and Dhana and their friend, Pritham K. Chakravarthy who used the aesthetic form of dance to craft out the passage of Aravanis. Pritham dramatically re-enacts her poignant and exemplary journey to becoming a trans-gender. Her expressions, gestures and words to recreate the pain and joy to discovering the gendered self in this polarised world of male and female, are visually stimulating.
The use of the ‘feminine’ mirror can be seen as a metaphor of the many layers of this journey from masculinity to femininity and also reflects the conflicts between the gendered selves at the point of Nirvanam or liberation. When Dhana says that Nirvanam for her means that she can no longer choose to wear male clothes at midnight and walk on the streets at midnight, and that she can’t do the same as a female, mirrors the dilemmas that both men and women face when boxed and viewed in fixed, stereotypical roles. What was exhilarating was the natural formation of the unconventional family, a family that defied blood and heterosexual ties and when Aasha Bharathi, president of the Tamil Nadu Aravanigal Association in Chennai says that hers is a small family of four, it also brings the debate of family planning and reproduction as forced versus natural.
In a free-flowing multiple narrative, the film breezes through as an engaging and thought-provoking glimpse that feelings of belonging, family and community are transcendental.
What is commendable is definitely the careful portrayal of the community, without any hints of exoticism.
“Our Family” is a well-edited movie, without much technical detailing. It also takes you to the Pal Utru Vizha or the 40th day of celebration of Nirvanam, with meanings of alternative terms typing out on the screen.
The end, which sits through a discussion of what this closed-knit community requests from society, is very simple – that we see them as human beings.
Anjali Monteiro and K.P. Jayasankar will be present at the Vikalp-Films for Freedom screening of “Our Family” which was awarded the certificate of merit and special mention at the Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF 2008), on April 19, 6.30 p.m. at Nani Cinematheque, Centre for Film and Drama, 5th floor, Sona Towers, 71 Millers Road. For more information on the movie, visit http://ourfamily2007. wordpress.com AYESHA MATTHAN
We are family
Georgina Maddox
Posted online: Tuesday , October 23, 2007 at 12:00:00
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/We-are-family/231296/
Mumbai, October 22 We have seen them begging at traffic signals, clad in bright saris with flowers in their hair while garish makeup hides their morning stubble. Now, we have the chance to get an intimate peep into the family of the Aravani, aka Hijra community.
Our Family, a 56-minute Tamil (with English subtitles) documentary, written and directed by K P Jayasankar and Anjali Monteiro, premiers at a Vikalp screening this Friday at Bhupesh Gupta Bhawan. It elucidates what it means to free oneself of the social construct of being male and explores life beyond a hetero-normative family.
Set in Tamil Nadu, the film brings together excerpts from Nirvanam, (Liberation) a one-person performance, by Pritham K Chakravarthy and a family of three generations of trans-gendered females—Aasha, Seetha and Dhana, who are bound together by ties of adoption. We see them cutting a birthday cake, visiting the temple, playing seven stones and talking about their dreams.
Aasha Bharathi, is the president of the Tamil Nadu Aravanigal Association, Chennai. Seetha, her adopted daughter, lives with her male partner Selvam, in Coimbatore. Dhana, the youngest and the most starry-eyed, is Seetha’s adopted daughter, who shuttles between her adopted and natal families. “The local residents have accepted Seetha as one of them. We had a good rapport with them, so when we shot in public spaces there were no issues,” says Jayasankar, who along with Montero has made 30-odd documentaries that are “off the beaten track”.
“We decided to make the film when we met Aasha through Pritham, who is our friend. We wanted to do it as a collaborative project, not one that dictated terms to them,” says Monteiro.
The film juxtaposes the ‘normality’ of their existence with the dark and powerful narrative by Pritham, a well-known dramatist in Tamil Nadu. Nirvanam quotes an incident from the Mahabharat where Lord Krishna marries and sacrifices an Aravani on the eve of the battle with the Kauravas. This ensures the Pandavas’ success on the battlefield: a symbol of the violence and exploitation faced by Aravanis.
“The film, is funded by TISS and made on a shoestring budget ,” says Monteiro. The distribution of the film, costing Rs 400, would be done through NGOs and narrowcast avenues.
Mumbai: October 27, 2007
Examines life in a transexual family
FILM: OUR FAMILY
RATING: * * * *
DIRECTORS: KP Jayasankar and Anjali Monteiro
http://www.freepressjournal.in/29102007/Film1.htm
Even as a transsexual up north fights for his rights to enter a place of worship, ‘Our Family’ , a gritty documentary film on three transgendered people has just premiered in Mumbai.
Produced by the Centre for Media and Cultural Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, “Our Family” is the newest film from KP Jayasankar and Anjali Monteiro, a talented husband and wife team who combine academia with activism and film-making. Jointly, they have won thirteen national and international awards for their films.
Jayasankar and Monteiro made this 56-minute long film in Tamil with English subtitles. As in most of their previous films, Jayasankar wielded the camera, sharing the Scripting, Editing, and Sound Design credits with Monteiro. Set in Tamilnadu, the film brings together excerpts from Nirvanam, a one person performance, by Pritham K. Chakravarthy and a family of three generations of trans-gendered females, Aasha, Seetha and Dhana, who are bound together by ties of adoption.
This family belongs to the trans-gendered community called Aravanis (aka Hijras, in some parts of India). Aasha Bharathi, the grandmother, is the president of the Tamilnadu Aravanigal Association, Chennai. Seetha, the daughter lives with her male partner Selvam, in Coimbatore. Dhana, Seetha’s adopted daughter also lives with her and shuttles between her adopted and her natal families. What does it mean to cross that line which sharply divides us on the basis of gender? Is there life beyond a hetero-normative family?
The film juxtaposes the ‘normality’ of their existence with the dark and powerful narrative by Pritham- Nirvanam in a referral to the act of liberating oneself from the male body and transforming oneself to a female. A presiding theme of much of Monteiro and Jayasankar’s work has been a problematising of notions of self and the other, of normality and deviance, of the local and the global, through the exploration of diverse narratives and rituals.
These range from the stories and paintings of indigenous peoples to the poetry of prison inmates. Monteiro and Jayasankar’s new film bears witness to the turbulent journey towards a reinvented selfhood, a journey fraught with violence, exploitation, affection and courage. The pain and pleasure of becoming the ‘other’ is the motif of the film. Weaving together performance, life histories and daily living, it underscores the gulf between ‘Us’ and ‘Them’.
Ronita Torcato (ronitatorcato@yahoo.co.in)
Film focusses on transgender truth
Shai Venkatraman
Tuesday, October 30, 2007: (Mumbai):
http://www.ndtvmovies.com/newstory.asp?section=Movies&id=ENTEN20070031252
It’s a community most people ridicule or prefer to keep at arm’s length. But what does it mean to cross the gender divide, to be free of being male as society defines it?
That’s the theme explored in the film Our Family.
A true story about a family of transgender women that unfolds over three generations.
The film’s set in Tamil Nadu and tells the story of Aasha, Seetha and Dhana, who are bound together by ties of adoption.
Aasha is the grandmother, Seetha her adopted daughter and Dhana who is adopted by Seetha and her partner Selvam.
“We wanted to make a film which would question the way people look at the hijras. We wanted to look at the human rights violation, the stigmas and also look at the warmth and celebratory aspect of it,” said Dr Anjali Monteiro, Filmmaker.
The film documents their journey as they discover their sexual identities and progressively blur the lines between themselves and what’s seen as normal social behaviour.
“They become a regular family. So the woman Seetha does the cooking. She does assert herself but in trying to do so she asserts her womanly identity even more, one of the things that struck us was that they were normal but in trying to be normal they had to play out the politics of being normal in some sense,” said KP Jayasankar, Filmmaker.
The film will not release commercially and will remain limited to the festival circuit. Clearly that’s one barrier that will take some time crossing.
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