JAGORI (a women's organisation based in Delhi and Himachal Pradesh, working on issues of women's rights) is hosting a gender film festival “Chromosome: gender under the lens”, on 20th and 21st September 2008 at Siri Fort. The focus of Chromosome will be on two specific issues that fall under theover-arching theme of gender: masculinity/femininity and societal notions of beauty.
Gender may be understood as the watertight boxes that women, men and those who do not identify themselves as either, are forced into as a result of an accident of birth, in order to fulfill society's notions of what is "feminine" and "masculine". Two sexes is the norm; there is no place for women who feeltrapped in men's bodies, or vice versa. People who do not identify themselves as either woman or man are the butt of jokes, ridicule, pity and violence of all kinds. This festival hopes to bring out these, and other issues, through the films themselves and the discussions that follow.
What's unique about Chromosome is the process of film selection itself. JAGORI uploaded a long list of films on gender-related themes on to the this portal. Ad professionals, students, activists, software and management professionals reviewed and ranked films on a rating scale that had parameters like plot appeal, fitness to theme and overall rating. The ranking helped us zoom in on the two themes of masculinity/femininity and beauty.
On 20th and 21st September 2008, Chromosome will screen feature films, documentaries, spots (produced by NGOs) and ad commercials on the two main issues. Each segment will be followed by a discussion with the audience. On 21st September 2008, there will be a panel discussion with noted documentary filmmakers Paromita Vohra and Rahul Roy; fashion photographer Vishesh Verma and senior journalist Pamela Philipose; the panel moderator is Vani Subramanian, a documentary film-maker and feminist activist.
Chromosome: gender under the lens hopes to reach out to viewers who are interested in films, but may not have had the opportunity to engage in discussions around gender. This is the person-on-the-street who feels uncomfortable about certain issues (why is it okay that a woman does the work at home, but has to struggle hard to become a boxer?) but cannot exactly put her finger on why she (or he) feels this way.
We invite you to be a part of Chromosome, a moving picture bonanza and to question, debate & challenge notions of what is 'perfect', 'natural' and 'normal'.