SAATHII RAINBOW FILM AWARDS 2007

An activity within Rainbow Pride Week 2007

and
Siddhartha Gautam Film Festival 2007, Calcutta

Concept Note and Plan of Action

1. Background to the awards: The idea for SAATHII Rainbow Film Awards (SRFA) was first proposed by SAATHII at the 2nd International Conference on Sexualities, Masculinities and Cultures in South Asia organized by Dharani Trust and Swabhava Trust in Bangalore in June 2004. The idea was proposed during a session on LGBT or queer representation in Bollywood films by Humsafar Trust, Mumbai.

In 2005, SAATHII put the idea into action and instituted the SAATHII Rainbow Film Awards (SRFA) 2005 as a key attraction within the Siddhartha Gautam Film Festival and Rainbow Pride Week in that year. Both are important events on Calcutta and India’s growing “LGBT events calendar”.

The first SRFA were won by: (a) Onir for “My Brother Nikhil”, which was voted the “best film portraying lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender characters and issues”, and (b) Purab Kohli in “My Brother Nikhil” as the “best actor in the role of a lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender character”. The awards were decided on the basis of voting by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people across West Bengal. As many as 106 people cast their votes for their favourite films and actors.

Note: More details of SRFA 2005 can be seen in Appendix 1 (file attached). Please visit the Picture Gallery at http://www.saathii.org/%20gensex/calcutta/ to know more about the late Siddhartha Gautam, one of India’s pioneering human rights activists in the 1980s and early 1990s, the festival organized in his memory each year by SAATHII, and for a background to the annual Rainbow Pride Week activities in Calcutta (and increasingly beyond it in other places in eastern India).

2. Rationale for the awards: The main aim of SRFA is to take the participation of LGBT people in the Siddhartha Gautam Film Festival beyond viewing the films. The awards seek to make the “voices of LGBT audiences” heard by filmmakers. The message conveyed is that LGBT people have an opinion on the films that portray LGBT characters. These opinions should be taken seriously by filmmakers and other artists involved in the making of films so that the portrayal of LGBT issues and characters becomes more sensitive and mature, particularly in “popular cinema”.

These awards are an experimental step towards advocacy with filmmakers. Films are a powerful medium of communication and mould social opinion in a big way. Therefore greater the participation of LGBT people in these awards, the stronger their voice will be with not just filmmakers but also larger society. Strategic media coverage of SRFA will be needed to publicize the initiative widely and help achieve its intended aim.

3. What or who will be awarded SRFA 2007:

a) Best feature film portraying lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender characters and issues
b) Best feature film actor in the role of a lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender character
c) Best documentary film focussing on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues

4. Why the word “Rainbow” in the name of the awards: The rainbow colours present a wide spectrum of colours – as diverse as the genders and sexualities of human beings. The objective of the awards is to strengthen the social status of LGBT people and generate greater acceptance for diversity in genders and sexualities. Hence the use of the word “rainbow” in the awards name.

5. Which films will be eligible for the awards:
a) Films that portray LGBT characters and issues in the Indian / Indian Diaspora / South Asian contexts
b) Genre: Feature and documentary films. Mixed formats will also be considered but will primarily be considered under the documentary genre
c) Only films made in India will be considered
d) Films can be in any language. Sub-titling in English for films other than those in Hindi, Bengali and English will be preferred
e) Time period: Films released or first screened in India in the period June 2005 till April 2007 will be considered (SRFA 2005 considered films released till May 2005)
f) Formats: Preferably DVD. VHS and VCD formats will also be considered
g) Print quality must be good for public screening
h) Films must be accessible to SAATHII by May 31, 2007. SAATHII has a large collection of films in its reference library in Calcutta, many of which will be considered for the awards.

SAATHII is also trying to acquire more films for its reference library that can also be considered for the awards

Recommendations or submission of films from those receiving this concept note will also be welcome, provided the films reach SAATHII’s Calcutta Office by end May 2007.

The address to which films must be couriered (along with a cover letter that includes an introduction to the filmmaker and a synopsis of the film): CD 335, Sector I, Salt Lake City, Calcutta, Pin 700 064. For more details, please call 033 2337 9880 or write in to saathii@yahoo.com

i) In the case of films already in SAATHII’s collection or those that SAATHII is trying to acquire, the filmmakers (film director and / or producer) must be willing to have their films considered for SRFA 2007. SAATHII will try to contact the filmmakers to confirm their interest
6. Who will decide the awards and how: SAATHII will first short list the films to be considered for the awards on the basis of criteria mentioned in the previous point. A six to eight member jury consisting of LGBT community leaders from West Bengal will then view these films and rate the films and actors on the basis of specific criteria. SAATHII will organize the screenings for the jury and also prepare the rating criteria to be used by the jury. The jury members will represent (LGBT) communities, not support groups or organizations they may be affiliated to. The jury members will be selected by SAATHII to represent a cross-section of socio-economic strata and occupations.

SAATHII Trustees and full-time or-part time staff will not be part of the jury to avoid any possible conflict of interest. Names of the jury members will be made known on the final day of Siddhartha Gautam Film Festival 2007, when the SRFA 2007 winners are announced. The award winning films will be screened on the final day of the festival, and interaction between the audience and the filmmakers will be facilitated.

What will the awards consist of: An artistic creation by an artist preferably from within the LGBT communities. First preference will be given to improving on the creation that was designed for SRFA 2005 by Reflection, Calcutta. If this is not possible, some other creation will be considered.

Contact for SRFA 2007, Siddhartha Gautam Film Festival 2007 and Rainbow Pride Week 2007 details:
Pawan Dhall / Subhadip Roy / Dibyendu Ganguli, Phone: 033 2337 9880, 98303 15269 (Subhadip), 98319 30065 (Dibyendu), E-mail: saathii@yahoo.com