Neelam launches grant for aspiring filmmakers from LGBTQIA+ community

Neelam Cultural Centre has come up with a grant for aspiring filmmakers from the Tamil LGBTQIA+ community, especially those belonging to bahujan caste groups and religious minorities. The Rs 20,000 grant money awarded to the selected entrant will go towards the production of a short film. Neelam Cultural Centre has roped in artist and storyteller Living Smile Vidya and filmmaker Halitha Shameem as part of its selection committee. This is part of Neelam Women and Trans Persons Cinema Forum that was launched last year.

Prashant Ramasamy, Neelam Social’s Creative Lead and the brain behind this initiative says the idea is to make “queer voices unavoidable” in the mainstream media. “Our primary objective is to make a strong representation from queer community. We want this to be more than just tokenism, now being Pride month. We want to be able to tell that queer voices can’t be easily silenced. For that, queer filmmakers must become unavoidable,” Prashant says and recalls how director Pa Ranjith, founder of the Neelam Cultural Centre, immediately welcomed the idea when he pitched it in 2020.

“Today, telling stories of people from queer communities has become marketable, and it has become a commodity. We want to create a space where the big OTT players take notice of queer voices,” he adds. Prashant highlights that the reason why we see problematic, superficial and stereotypical portrayal persons from LGBTQIA+ spectrum is because such stories are almost always told by cisgender, heterosexual filmmakers. “The stories are not from lived experiences because a person from the community is not telling them. Moreover, it is not like we don’t have any filmmakers from the community!” he points out adding “They don’t have the access or the space for it and we want to create that for them.”

According to Prashant, stories on people from LGBTQIA+ community, when told by filmmakers who call themselves allies of the community, only end up becoming a genre. “They approach it with curiosity and end up eroticising the experience. Some of them are sensitised but we should let queer people tell their own stories. There is definitely no representation for them in Tamil cinema,” he points out.

Here, Prashant also talks about how OTT platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime are yet to tap into this sector. “As of now they function within a limited community. Dominant savarna filmmakers joined these platforms and this space continues to be within their own clique. And they’ve been continuing with people from their circles. The OTT platforms are not democratic channels at present,” he says.

And more importantly, the intersectionality of caste and sexuality too is a criteria that is not to be treated lightly. “It is important to talk about the intersectionality of caste and sexuality. Even within the LGBTQIA+ community, the savarnas easily gain access. We want to give importance to LGBTQIA+ spectrum people belonging to bahujan caste communities, especially from non-urban areas.”

Those interested can apply with a clean script for a short film not less than five-minutes, their biodata and a 1000-word essay on ‘Can cinema bring about social change?’ to neelamsocialmedia.com. The deadline to submit entries is August 1 and results will be announced by Neelam on August 20. Selected participants will be mentored by Living Smile Vidya and Halitha Shameem. For more details, please follow their social media page here (link to Facebook page).

On choosing the judges, Prashant says that the team has kept in mind to include a person from the LGBTQIA+ spectrum and a person coming from the industry. While Living Smile Vidya is a trans woman performer and a creator, Halitha is a Tamil filmmaker who has directed films such as Sillu Karupatti and Aeley. Prashant adds that other panelists too may come on board later.

Neelam Women and Trans Persons Cinema Forum also has another masterclass program for aspiring filmmakers from bahujan caste groups, and religious minorities. The selected participants will be mentored by director Pa Ranjith himself and industry experts.