One for All, a short film by Anindya Das revolves around the core concept of intersectionality- something that affects modern social movements and its working. Submitted for Dialogues Film Festival, the film touches upon different social groups and their bearings on each other. In today’s world, whether we can be intersectional in our fight for rights guides the final outcome of a much more united world. Gaysi caught up with the director of the video for a short chat about the filmmaking process and the idea behind the video.
Q. What is the inspiration behind the video?
My inspiration behind this project has been a lifelong belief that all human rights are connected. A queer activist who endorses caste divisions, a feminist who abuses animals, a male human rights lawyer who accepts the fender gap in salaries at court…these are all oxy (morons) to me. The idea behind the film was cemented post the reading down of Section 377 on the 6th of September, 2018. I was heartened to see amongst the ensuing celebrations in Kolkata, a fair number of the Queer community hold placards and shout slogans in favour of other violated rights and communities.
Q. Can you share a few anecdotes from the time you spent shooting the video- of the people featured and their stories?
The only story I have really from this shoot is that it was made on a budget of love. Everyone who took part, joined in because of a love for the community and the idea of the film. No one charged money, and in fact people travelled from other towns and districts just to participate and help out. I had a lot of apprehensions about shooting on the streets but by and large, it all went off smoothly. Our biggest enemy was time! The film was shot in less than 2 days.
The stories were inspired by important struggles that have happened and are still happening. I tried to keep an emotional, simple approach as I am disliking the way people are quickly finding reason to divide themselves into camps based on words.
Q. How important do you think intersections are in today’s world- between class, caste, queer lives, gender, the privileges of many?
There was a time when the struggle for freedoms was beginning when people started fighting for their voices. And it was important – because only when communities raised their specific voices did humans become aware that these causes needed to be fought. Today, I believe we have come to a point where we cannot ignore the interconnectedness of every aspect of life. Be it the environment where one polluting country affects a strictly carbon conscious country or be it politics, where a decision in the US leads to escalating conflicts in the middle East and subsequent right wing rise in Europe. In our queer community too, we need to see that the fight is much larger…that there are minorities within minorities that are left without representation by even the activist and liberal mainstream. That 377 being read down is not the end of a journey but the beginning of one. Hopefully the sense of empathy that has defined our community will not be hijacked by consumerism and divisive politics. This effort is a rough attempt at bridging that gap between different interconnected rights. It is a complex gap and perhaps will only begin to be filled if more people pitch in. That’s why I wanted to share the video.
