Indian short film SUNDAY by Arun Fulara is part of #FiveFilmsForFreedom.
Other films are from China, India, Croatia, Panama and the UK
Local language subtitles for engaging greater audiences across the world.
Screenings in multiple Indian cities – New Delhi, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Kolkata Kharagpur and Guwahati
Thursday, 17 March 2022: British Council in partnership with BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival makes five LGBTIQ+ themed short films available for the world to watch online for free, over an 11-day period each year.
Between 16 and 27 March 2022, a collection of compelling and thought-provoking stories from countries such as India, China, UK, Croatia, and Panama will be presented. Through these films, the audience will get to know more about the emerging LGBTIQ+ cinema across the world and understand the life and challenges faced by the community with themes including immigration, intimacy, and isolation.
In India, British Council has partnered with The Queer Muslim Project, South Asia’s largest virtual network of Queer, Muslim and allied individuals, to celebrate and amplify the films. In addition to the films being shown online, the films will be screened across various cities such as Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kharagpur, Kolkata and Guwahati. The offline screenings are being co-hosted with some of the largest LGBTQIA+ student-led groups across three premier Indian universities. The curation also includes a series of reels and Instagram Live with popular Queer creators and youth media platforms, Yuvaa, We the Young India and Gaysi Family, roundtable discussions featuring renowned filmmakers, and open mics!
Over 17 million people from more than 200 countries have viewed the Five Films For Freedom programme since its launch in 2015. This continues to include online engagement in countries where homosexuality can be prosecuted and, in some cases, punishable by death. The campaign further addresses the language barrier typically associated with international content, by providing subtitles in local languages such as Hindi.
Mumbai filmmaker Arun Fulara’s debut short film Sunday is part of this year’s #FiveFilmsForFreedom selection. The film, which has already travelled widely to more than 50 world festivals, examines the desire and loneliness of a middle-aged man on his weekly visit to the barbers.
Speaking about Sunday, and the #FiveFilmsForFreedom campaign, Arun Fulara said: Sunday is a deeply personal film that came out of my own experience of loneliness and lack of intimacy in the urban sprawl that is Mumbai. To see that film transcend borders and touch so many people across the world is a testimony to how similar we all are, whatever culture and nationality we may belong to. The film started its journey just as the pandemic began and has, therefore, I feel, touched a raw nerve in these times of forced isolation and distancing. Being a part of the Five Films for Freedom campaign is a huge honour and deeply gratifying for our small team. While I am extremely glad that people across the world will now be able to see our film, I hope there comes a time when stories like this cease to be a reality.”
The other films on the list are:
British-Nigerian Director Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor’s short film For Love, which focuses on illegal immigrant Nkechi and the unique challenges she faces due to her sexual identity
Croatian comic artist and animation director Marko Dješka’s animated film All Those Sensations In My Belly, which follows the story of trans girl Matia’s transition and her quest for love.
Panamanian Director Judith Corro first film as scriptwriter and director, Birthday Boy (Vuelta al Sol), a story about parents denying their son’s identity as a young trans man, and
Chinese Director Hao Zhou delivers Frozen Out, an experimental short film that combines scenes from rural Iowa and rural China to explore anxiety, dislocation and self-exile.
Jonathan Kennedy, Director Arts India, British Council, said “Throughout the world, #FiveFilmsForFreedom present diverse and unique stories from some cutting edge LGBTIQ+ filmmakers. With our partners in India and the UK, we aim to achieve greater empathy for and solidarity with the LGBTIQ+ community with thought-provoking short dramas on film. Arun Fulara’s beautifully subtle and sensitive film about a middle-aged man’s weekly Sunday trip to the barbers brings a richness to #FiveFilmsForFreedom from an Indian LGBTIQ+ perspective for an international audience. We are delighted to partner with The Queer Muslim Project and others in India to share a festival of screenings, discussions and new artworks inspired by this year’s films - in the certain knowledge that love is a human right.”
Rafiul Alom Raman, Founder and Director, The Queer Muslim Project said: “We are truly honoured to be collaborating with the British Council to create a space that celebrates love and freedom. The #FiveFilmsForFreedom campaign has been a catalyst in promoting nuanced and intersectional representations of LGBTQIA+ stories and people from diverse cultures around the world. As a platform that uses storytelling for social change, The Queer Muslim Project recognizes and honours the power of short films to capture the subtleties of Queer experiences - the deeply personal moments and inflection points of LGBTQIA+ lives that are invisible in mainstream narratives. This year’s curation of FFFF in India includes powerful reels by young Queer creators, open mics bringing together performance and poetry, offline community screenings, and discussions with renowned filmmakers - all centred around the themes of the five films.”
British Council’s Director of Film, Briony Hanson, said: “This year’s films represent a selection of exciting voices from across the world, telling stories about the queer experience that is still rarely seen in many places. As LGBTQIA+ people across the world continue to fight for basic rights, #FiveFilmsForFreedom is as important as ever, driving home the message that love is a human right, no matter how we identify or where we are. We can’t wait for a global audience to enjoy them.”
Michael Blyth, BFI Flare’s Senior Programmer said: “#FiveFilmsForFreedom is an essential moment in the global queer film calendar, uniting people across the World by giving free access to an incredible selection of shorts films. Not everyone has the same level of access to LGBTQIA+ film and images as we do in the UK, and this opportunity to bring queer work to millions of people remains as vital and meaningful as ever. “
The films will be available to view from 16- 27 March 2022. To watch and for details on the India programme and events visit https://www.britishcouncil.in/events/five-films-for-freedom-2022
For further information please contact:
Aleem T Siddiqui for British Council || aleem.siddiqui@archetype.co || +91 9599563924
Notes to the Editor
The programme
The films
Sunday (India/Dir Arun Fulara/ 10 mins): When the middle-aged Kamble makes his weekly visit to the neighbourhood barber shop, it's not just for a shave. He can't wait to be touched by Jaan, the new barber-boy he has a crush on. It's the highlight of his otherwise dull existence as a married man leading a dual life in a society that resists homosexuality.
Sunday has already travelled widely to more than 50 world festivals including the Frameline Film Festival, Tampere Film Festival, London India Film Festival, Shorts Mexico, Inside Out Toronto and BISFF Bengaluru, with Director Arun Fulara winning the prestigious Riyad Wadia Award for Best Emerging Filmmaker at the Kashish Mumbai International Queer Film Festival in 2020 alongside the half a dozen awards the film has won internationally.
All Those Sensations In My Belly (Croatia/ Dir Marko Djeska/13 mins): While transitioning from male to female gender, Matia struggles with finding a genuine intimate relationship with a heterosexual man.
Frozen Out (China/Dir Hao Zhou/ 5 mins): An immigrant retreats to frozen prairies and forests, hoping to escape the anxieties of dislocation and find meaning in an endless expanse. Delivered as a letter to the protagonist’s sister in rural China, the film meditates on identity, self-exile, home and ties to family.
Birthday Boy (Vuelta al Sol) (Panama/ Dir Judith Corro/ 7 mins): It’s César's birthday and his parents expect him to wear clothes that make César feel uncomfortable. Now he has to make a decision – continue to please his family's expectations or be true to his identity as a trans man.
For Love (UK/ Dir Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor/ 12 mins): Illegal immigrant, Nkechi, lives happily in the shadows with her partner Martha. But when immigration officers turn up unexpectedly, the pair have to make difficult decisions about their future together.
The Directors
Arun Fulara: Arun Fulara is a writer and filmmaker based out of Mumbai, India. His debut short, SUNDAY, travelled widely to world festivals including London India Film Festival, Shorts Mexico, Inside Out Toronto and BISFF Bengaluru. Arun won the prestigious Riyad Wadia Award for Best Emerging Filmmaker for Sunday at Kashish MIQFF in 2020. He’s previously worked as an assistant on award winning films like Ajji & Bhonsle with acclaimed filmmaker Devashish Makhija.
Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor: Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor was born in Nigeria and moved to the UK when she was 16. In 2016 she produced Joseph A Adesunloye’s feature White Colour Black, which premiered at the BFI London Film Festival. In 2020, Joy went on to produce Rapman’s debut feature Blue Story, was selected for the BFI Flare x BAFTA Crewmentorship programme and was identified as both a Screen International Star of Tomorrow and a BAFTA Breakthrough participant. In 2021 she completed Aml Ameen’s Boxing Day, her third feature as producer. Having produced both shorts and features, For Love, made with BBC Film, is the first short film that she has written and directed.
Marko Dješka: Marko Dješka is an animation director, scriptwriter and comic book artist. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, Animated Film and New Media Department. His student films SLAUGHTERED (2010) and THE SON OF SATAN (2012), as well as his first professional film THE CITY OF GHOSTS (2016) have been awarded at numerous film festivals.
Judith Corro: Judith Corro is a Panamanian cultural manager, storyteller, communicator and passionate multi-tasker. She graduated in Writing and Psychology from Loyola University New Orleans, with a special interest in scriptwriting and gender issues. She currently works as Communications Chief in the NGO sector, and has created several published projects focusing on gender, identity, and community. The short Birthday Boy is her first cinematographic work (and hopefully not her last) as both scriptwriter and director.
Hao Zhou: Hao Zhou is a filmmaker originally from rural China and now based in the US Midwest. Zhou’s work centres on marginalized voices and less-seen spaces, with a focus on LGBTQ+ themes. An alum of both Cinéfondation Résidence and Berlinale Talents, Zhou has directed an indie feature, The Night, which premiered at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival. Most recently Zhou’s work has been supported by Art With Impact and the Iowa Arts Council/Produce Iowa. In 2021, Zhou’s short film Frozen Out won a Gold Medal at the 48th Student Academy Awards.
About the British Council
The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We build connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and other countries through arts and culture, education and the English language. In 2019-2020 we reached over 75 million people directly and 758 million people overall, including online, broadcasts and publications. Founded in 1934 we are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter and a UK public body. We receive a 14.5 per cent core funding grant from the UK government. www.britishcouncil.org
About BFI Flare
BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival is the UK’s longest running queer film event. It began in 1986 as Gay’s Own Pictures. By its 3rd edition it was tagged the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival and since then has grown to become the largest LGBTQIA+ film event in the UK, and its most anticipated. The Festival changed its name to BFI Flare in 2014 to reflect the increasing diversity of its films, filmmakers and audience. The festival is programmed by Grace Barber-Plentie, Jay Bernard, Michael Blyth, Zorian Clayton, Brian Robinson and Emma Smart, led by Festivals Director, Tricia Tuttle. The 2021 edition of BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival was presented online with 26 virtual feature premieres and 38 free shorts screened from 23 countries on BFI Player. In a continued partnership between BFI Flare and British Council, the seventh edition of the global campaign #FiveFilmsForFreedom saw worldwide audiences of 1.7 million viewers engage with the five featured short films online. The 2022 edition runs from 16-27 March www.bfi.org.uk/Flare
About The Queer Muslim Project
The Queer Muslim Project is South Asia’s largest virtual network of Queer, Muslim and allied individuals, with a growing global community of over 33K people. We use digital advocacy, storytelling and visual arts to create avenues for young people from underserved communities to express themselves, build community and forge creative collaborations. Our key focus areas include digital advocacy, art, culture and media, mental health and well-being, and feminist and Queer-affirming approaches to faith.
