Onir | India | 2010 | 110’ | Hindi, English, Bengali, Kashmiri and Marathi spoken, English subtitles
I Am by Onir, opening film of the ‘Soul of India’ section, is a strong film on compelling dilemmas modern Indians face today. Spurned by Bollywood, producers Sanjay Suri and Onir used Facebook and social networks to co-produce this film with 400 people in 35 cities. It features four stories about characters who struggle to keep their identity and dignity.
I Am Afia explores the awkwardness at the far edge of feminism, as a single, divorced woman negotiates at a sperm bank, with a young teenager selling his sperm for pocket money.
I Am Megha: When Megha, one of the Hindu exodus forced from their land by Muslims in Kashmir, returns home, she finds her childhood Muslim friend now living in it. A trenchant exploration of friendship and identity.
I Am Abhimanyu (played by actor-producer Sanjay Suri) is about a man tormented by his childhood sexual abuse by his widowed mother’s lover. But will his mother acknowledge the truth?
I Am Omar is a sharp sketch of what it means to be homosexual in India today. The Delhi High Court ruling decriminalising homosexuality in 2009 is still legally contested. Omar’s story is a common one of police blackmailing homosexuals, but he is outraged by an unexpected betrayal.
Friday 12 August, 8.30 pm, Rialto 
Saturday 13 August, 4.00 pm, Rialto
Sunday 21 August, 1.00 pm, Rialto (Het Parool Film Day)
Sunday 21 August, 4.00 pm, Rialto (Het Parool Film Day)
