Documentaries are often described as reality films. But reality as we know is slippery, forever near and forever far. And probably nothing proves this more than the troubled area of representation of men and masculinities in documentaries. Why is it that we look at men in documentaries but we don’t really see them as ‘men’? Or let’s put it in another way, why is it easy to understand what we mean when we say ‘films on women’ and get quizzical looks if we were to say ‘films on men’. Boys and men rarely carry the burden of gender when portrayed as workers, teachers, peasants, activists, students in films, while women are almost always marked out by their gender. When we look at men, we are always invited to read between the lines, to interpret, to examine the fractures but there seems to be a hesitation to gender men in similar ways as what has happened with the representation of women. This invisibility of masculinities can be understood as an absence of research and knowledge on what constitutes gender practices of men. We know only too well the hegemonic masculinity that constantly crosses our path and dominates our image of the masculine but what about various other forms of masculinities that lie submerged and silent. The obscuring of masculinities can also be interpreted as the dividend men gain from the patriarchal pyramid for being men.

This festival of documentaries attempts to intervene in this space of presence and absence to induce a gaze that unravels the many realities of men and masculinities through filmic journeys inside homes, work sites, youthful yearnings, race, sexuality and labour. The films take us inside the world of boys and men to reveal the complexity and contradictions within the world of masculinities. They invite us to look at masculinities as an intricate system of distribution of privileges and the insecurities and instability of a world that is constantly on the verge of being undone.

And finally to queer the pitch we also have a documentary on a woman truck driver, the film emphasising that masculinities is at best a provisional term that can be deployed to understand men within the domain of gender but it cannot be fixed in all circumstances to only the male body.

This festival of documentaries is being organised as part of a series of events to generate a discussion on masculinities and build partnerships with boys and men to prevent gender based violence.

Rahul Roy / Juhi Jain / Uma Tanuku

Aakar

www.southasianmasculinities.org

beyond the border

i am a man

in the pit

listen to the wind

majma

manjuben truck driver

my friend su

our boys

she creates

simple past

that’s what my dad used to say!

when four friends meet

who can speak of men?

yeh hui na mardon wali baat

beyond the border

Dir: Ari Palos

Beyond the Border follows the immigrant experience with 17 year old Marcelo

Ayala, who leaves his family on a risky journey to the United States. His

decision to leave Mexico becomes clearer with the insights of his brothers,

who before him, have each made the same journey. Horacio Ayala, has been

in the US for a couple of years. He yearns to return to Mexico. Juan, the

anchor of the brothers, has managed to realize his dream of a family and

stable job in the United States, all the while missing the joy of being with his

family in Mexico. Gonzalo, the oldest, has seen his life unravel, with broken

marriages, jail time and a constant battle with alcoholism.

71 min / 2007 / usA-mexico / ari@dosvatos.com

i am a man

Dir: Byron Hurt

Is there such a thing as black masculinity in America? What are some of the ways in which black masculinity differs from white masculinity? How have racism, sexism, homophobia and the threat of violence helped shape black masculine identity in American culture? How do gay black men define masculinity?

Byron Hurt powerfully examines in this award-winning documentary the thoughts and feelings of African-American men and women from across USA. The film links everyday black men from various socioeconomic backgrounds with some of Black America’s most progressive academics, social critics and authors to provide an engaging, candid dialogue on black masculine identity in American culture.

60 min / 1998 / usA / info@bhurt.com

majma (PerFOrmAnce)
Dir: rahul roy
Aslam sells medicines for sexual problems on the pavements of Meena Bazaar near Jama Masjid in Delhi… Khalifa Barkat presides over an akhara in the adjacent park and puts a group of young men through the moral and physical grind of wrestling. Through the park and the market pass hundreds of men every day… Majma explores the instability and insecurity of working class lives and its impact on male sexuality and gender relations.
54 min / 2000 / india / rahulroy63@gmail.com

in the pit (en el HOyO)

Dir: Juan carlos rulfo

According to a Mexican legend for every bridge being built the devil asks for one soul, in exchange for the bridge never to fall. This film tells the story of the workers participating in the construction of a second deck to Mexico City’s inner periférico freeway. This second deck is about to transform the city, its landscape and the lives of its inhabitants. It is the story of those whose hands and sweat go into the making of this mammoth work of concrete, steel and asphalt. The film focuses on the workers’ daily lives, their hopes, their dreams and their effort to survive with dignity. In a very personal way it documents the contrasts, emotions and small moments that shall culminate in the loss of a soul taken by the devil; a soul that will remain as a memory of the workers who built the second deck.
84 min / 2007 / mexico / lamedialuna1@hotmail.com

listen to the wind

Dir: tsering rhitar & Kesang tseten

A Sherpa boy in the high mountains of Nepal is different. An old nomad with deteriorating eyesight who wishes to see the rare Kalma Metok flower before he dies is his best friend. In the face of mounting obstacles at his new school – bullying classmates, diminishing chances of securing a much-needed scholarship and the threat of expulsion from his new school – can he realize his friend’s advice to Listen to the Wind to find his own answers?
31 min / 2004 / nepal / kesang@homebase.wlink.com.np

my friend su

Dir: neeraj Bhasin

Traditional Indian and contemporary trance music set the mood for a night with Su, the filmmaker’s friend from art school. Though he is outwardly male, Su actually feels like a woman. The film revolves around Su’s halting monologues about his feelings towards society, his upbringing and family, his crisis of identity, and his art. The images shot on digital video are fluid, sensual, and for some reason their vibrant colors seem to run… beautifully.
Su’s voice and his singing are addictive.
55 min / 2001 / india / neerajbh@vsnl.net

our boys (AmADer cHelerA)

Dir: manzare Hassin murad

Winds of change are sweeping through Bangladesh... The West is irresistible and the East refuses to disappear. In these confusing times, boys from a pop group and a young artist—all from the newly emerging upper and middle class families of Dhaka - open their lives to the director. Duties and obligations, women and desire, confusion and contradictions... The boys can feel the wind but do they really know which way it blows?

42 min / 1999 / Bangladesh / ruchira@bangla.net

she creates (5 sHOrt Films)
Dir: Workshop Film made by 25 girls
25 girls between 10 to 16 years of age, from across the cross section of society were given filmmaking workshops by professionals from the industry. SHE Creates gives an interesting window into the world of teenage girls from different social and economic backgrounds. The process of representing their own realities meant asking difficult questions about themselves and the world that they live in.

simple past (PretÉritO PerFeitO)

Dir: Gustavo Pizzi

Simple Past follows ex-customers and employees of one of the most famous brothel in Brazil called Casa Rosa as they come back to the house where it once stood in all its glory. Revisiting the old bedrooms we get to know stories of men and women of different ages, their experiences inside that house, like Ivanilda, a 65 years old prostitute who worked in the brothel when she was 15. Nowadays, while it’s been remodeled and renewed, the old estate is a ‘cultural center’ where parties and music shows gather a crowd of young people every weekend. A film about memory, morals and negotiation.

71 min / 2007 / Brazil / gustavo@cavideo.com.br

that’s what my dad

used to say!

Dir: sharat Katariya, vikram & laalit lobo

That’s What My Dad Used To Say! is a documentary about the three male filmmakers’ journey of discovery into their gender and sexual identities.
The filmmakers’ reflect upon the complexity of masculinity through a bricolage of visuals and recollections - video diaries, confessions, random interviews, anecdotes, fantasy sequences.
35 min / 2001 / india / sharatkatariya@yahoo.co.in, laalitlobo@yahoo.com
sounding board.

when four friends meet

Dir: rahul roy

When four friends meet… they share with the camera their secrets… sex andgirls; youthful dreams and failures; frustrations and triumphs. Bunty, Kamal, Sanjay and Sanju, best of friends and residents of Jehangirpuri, a working class colony on the outskirts of Delhi are young and trying to make their lives in an environment which is changing rapidly… girls seem to be very bold… stable jobs are not easy to come by… sex is a strange mix of guilt and pleasure… families are claustrophobic… and the blur of television the only sounding board.

43 min / 2000 / india / rahulroy63@gmail.com

who can speak of men?

Dir: Ambarien Al Qadar, Gazala yasmin & nihal

A documentary about middle class Muslim women in India who refuse to conform to feminine norms. They describe in poignant detail the everyday struggles they face in order to be true to themselves. The film is striking in the inclusion of a disarming seven-year-old, Chini,who stubbornly insists that ‘she’ is a ‘he’.

32 min / 2003 / india / ambarien@yahoo.co.uk

yeh hui na mardon wali baat

Dir : Farjad nabi & mazhar Zaidi

Yeh hui na Mardon wali Baat or Now that’s More like a Man is the Pakistani contribution to a South Asian film project. It has taken a rather peculiar angle to look into the issue of masculinity. Though it is a film about men, there aren’t any in it. The film looks at the issue through the eyes of women! The film is a juxtaposition of a series of interview clips of women from different backgrounds. The only common bond among them is that they

all hail from Lahore. As these women talk about men in their capacities as brothers, husbands, fathers, lovers etc, a sort of profile of an ideal man emerges. What does the society these women come from, expect of a man?

35 min / 1999 / Pakistan / beykhabar@yahoo.com

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Dr. Rajendra Prasad

Mukul Manglik

Shohini Ghosh

Sabeena Gadihoke

Tara Basumatary

Ranjani Mazumdar

Chitra Joshi

Salma Siddique

IN COLLABORATION WITH

Ramjas College, University of Delhi

Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi

Indraprastha College, University of Delhi

School of Arts & Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University

Media Resource Centre, AJK MCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia

ORGANISED BY
AAKAR
A-19 Gulmohar Park, new Delhi 110 049
www.southasianmasculinities.org