@voices
Voices of Swell
@voices · 2:48

ONIR - TV and Film Director / Activist

article image placeholderOnir
Hi there. Thanks for listening. This is Deborah Parte speaking on Voices of Swell, which is a swell cast that's focusing on conversations with individuals around the world who are really shaping society, society and helping people stretch their understanding of what's going on in the world. And it is February 27. I'm speaking to you from Los Angeles, and I'm about to speak to Honor, who is a very celebrated film and TV director in India

Openly gay, Onir has been pushing India into a critical conversations. His warmth and candor prevail. #swellinterview #celeb #TEDspeaker #DBPconvo

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@onir
Anirban Dhar
@onir · 3:31

#sameSexMarriage in India

What happened two days back when the center opposed gay marriages to allow gay marriages to be recognized in India is rather sad, because it has been after a long struggle that finally in 2018 that gay sex was decriminalized. But we were still far away from being treated as equal citizens because we still do not have the civil rights and the rights to partnership, the rights to marriage, which also because of which one can have access to many other rights
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@voices
Voices of Swell
@voices · 1:59

Creating films to create change

And take me back to when you were selling that film to the actors and to the producers and to the people putting money behind it. How are you able to do that? How are you able to galvanize their trust in you when a film likes that really hadn't been made before because we're so interested in you as a filmmaker, and we're interested in that experience as what it was like to build the community to support the creation of that film
@onir
Anirban Dhar
@onir · 4:38

#myBrotherNikhil

I'm trying to think that what was it that made? First of all, what was the need within to make this as my first film in 2005, when I did. And as you rightly pointed out at that point, there was no such reference. And I think growing up as gay person in India at that point was like Firstly, childhood in Bhutan, and then I came to India
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@onir
Anirban Dhar
@onir · 4:24
Also, it is for the commercials are so bad that till today I have hardly managed to recover the cost of the film, despite it being such a celebrated film, having traveled the world. So the journey of me as a filmmaker making these kind of films have been extremely difficult. But what keeps me going is that I believe that these films have the power to change lives, even if it's a few those few lives are precious. The difference it makes to those people, it's precious
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@DBPardes
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 2:03

Normalizing joy!

And it reminds me of when I was back in College as a young gay woman, I was struck by how many people were moved by the AIDS epidemic in New York City as something that they can actually get around. It because pain is universal in a strange way
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@onir
Anirban Dhar
@onir · 4:40
It was a firm called Shub, which means night. And the firm had many gay characters who were not really fighting for their identity but were like the heterosexual characters in the firm searching for love, happiness, different kinds of crisis and relationships that they were going through. And when I presented the film to the film certification board, they objected by saying, And I still remember that because it was also kind of humiliating that they looked at me and said that how can we allow children to watch this film?
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@DBPardes
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:42

Anticlock Films / Widows of Vrindavan https://youtu.be/xWQFj7kmxRQ

And here a mother renounces her family because they don't understand her. And it's no accident that you have chosen this as a topic to give energy and time and your resources to can you talk about choosing to make this particular documentary and link it here so that people can see it? It's fascinating, and I know very little about it. So thank you for having patience and explaining what this world is
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@onir
Anirban Dhar
@onir · 4:32

#widowsOfVrindavan marginalised communities

And I keep telling everyone that if you cannot be yourself with your family, that means the love that you are attaching yourself to, that you are refusing to give up or you're afraid to lose is a love that does not exist because your family loves the person that you are not, in reality the same person. And if your family can't love you for who you are, then maybe it's not worth it
@Swell
Swell Team
@Swell · 0:15

Welcome to Swell!

@onir
Anirban Dhar
@onir · 2:26

Diversity

Also, I think what attracts me as a person towards any marginalized community and not just from the creative community, is the fact that I strongly believe that as voices says, unless we all give each other strength and recognize each other's journey and struggle, we will never be strong enough. In 2016, I had produced a firm called Churanga Means Four Colors, which was talking about the Dalit identity, which is, quote, unquote considered to be the lower cost in a rural setup
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@DBPardes
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 2:09

Looking towards the future 🌱💥 with you @onir

What things would you like us to do, to make sure that your work is seen and be as specific as you need to be, so that we can know what to do in terms of where to go online and what to look forward to. And it's just so wonderful to deeply celebrate an artist, and we're here to do that with you, and you celebrate us. So it's a very beautiful Infinity loop
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@onir
Anirban Dhar
@onir · 4:48
But I feel that just to spread the word around when one's work is recognized outside the country, somehow we are valued more as an artist back here. So I try and visit different universities across the world, talk about platforms, talk about the struggle as an independent, quiff filmmaker in India
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