Indian short film Sunday is in this year’s #FiveFilmsForFreedom. The programme, presented by 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 16-27 March, a collection of stories from India, China, UK, Croatia, and Panama are being presented.
In India, British Council has partnered with The Queer Muslim Project. In addition to the films being shown online, they will also 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 such as Yuvaa, We the Young India and Gaysi Family, roundtable discussions featuring renowned filmmakers, and open mics.
Mumbai filmmaker Arun Fulara’s debut short film Sunday (2020) is part of this year’s #FiveFilmsForFreedom selection. The film, which has travelled to over 50 festivals, examines the desire and loneliness of a middle-aged man on his weekly visit to the barbers.
It stars Shrikant Yadav, recently seen in Amazon Prime Video’s Jalsa.
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.” More details can be found at: www.bfi.org.uk/Flare.
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