Cinelabia is one year old, and so what if only women will turn out to celebrate? The film club started by the group Lesbians and Bisexuals in Action has been screening movies on queer and feminist themes at the Majlis Cultural Centre every month. To celebrate the anniversary, Pedro Almodovar’s Talk to Her and Pratibha Parmar’s Nina’s Heavenly Delights will be screened on June 29. The new issue of Scripts, an ezine of queer women’s writings, will also be released.
Cinelabia’s screenings have been restricted to women ever since it started. Why create a zenana of female cinema lovers? The idea, according to Labia member Georgina Maddox, is to “create safe spaces for women who may be queer or those who are queer friendly to interact”. Men tend to dominate social gatherings, Maddox added. “In the presence of men, queer or straight, many women tend to get withdrawn, shy or conscious and tend to speak up less, whereas most men who have been socialised as outgoing and go getters tend to do all the talking and hog space,” she said. “We are not totally averse to men, but they have to very queer friendly and screened as ‘safe and wholesome’ before we let them into our space.” Besides, Mumbai has enough venues where men and women can watch films together, she added.
Of the films being shown, Almodovar’s Talk To Her is a staggeringly brilliant work. British documentary filmmaker Pratibha Parmar’s debut feature, however, has been drubbed by critics. “We love Almodavar and the way he approaches women-oriented themes,” Maddox said. “Pratibha’s film is a nice romantic comedy. It’s also her first feature film and we want to celebrate that with our anniversary.” Nandini Ramnath |
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