Women documentary makers take centrestage on film festival’s last day

Elephant and Ant film festival showcases the works of female filmmakers making films within their communities

Falah Faisal | NT

Bengaluru: The final day of the film festival at St. Joseph’s began with the screening of Bloody Phanek by Sonia Nepram, a documentary about Manipuri Phanek, which is similar to a sarong, to explore how this attire is used as a medium of protest, how it challenges masculinity and its inherent concept of impurity.

It was followed by the National Award-winning film Holy Rights by Farha Khatun which documents the movement against triple talaq, Muslim women’s struggles to break free of patronizing voices within the community as well as resist forces outside from appropriating their movement to suit their own political agenda.

Both the filmmakers were then invited on stage for a panel discussion on women’s right to dignity, liberty, and equality – in domestic, work, and public space, women’s role in resistance against the state alongside veteran filmmaker Deepa Dhanraj in a talk moderated by Madhu Bhushan.

They were also joined by Safia Apa, an activist, and the first female Qazi, who was also the protagonist of Farha’s film. “When men deserted these women after Triple Talaq no one cared about how they fared but when punishment was announced for the men, everyone was all of a sudden concerned about how the women would live without the men,” said Safia.

On how she feels about the Hindu Right wing appropriating their movement, she said “I have always maintained that this is not a governance issue but an issue of women’s dignity. Politics has no place in it.” On what inspired her to make this film, Farha said that she had witnessed many instances of talaq in her family.

The most memorable was that of her aunt who arrived at their house one day very dishevelled and told her grandmother how her husband nearly divorced her over a quarrel. Similarly, Sonia was inspired by incidents she witnessed in her childhood when Manorama Thangjam was raped and killed by Assam Rifles, Manipuri women staged a nude protest and the Phanek which had been considered impure became a symbol of protest.

“Many don’t realize that Manipur is one of the most militarized places in the country where we have been fighting for self-determination against the Indian state and asserting our culture is an important aspect of that,” she said.

The last film of the festival was A Bid for Bengal by Dwaipayan Banerjee and Kasturi Basu which documents how the Hindutva right wing found a foothold in Bengal. Speaking at the panel discussion after, Kasturi said

“There is no ideological opposition to the RSS in the country. They don’t stop working even when BJP isn’t in power in a state. BJP is just a money-filled balloon compared to the RSS which will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2025. We must ask ourselves why they have been so successful and what can be done to stop their juggernaut.”