At a time when love is frequently summoned to the courtroom in India, the films in this program present unsanctioned desires as a form of active resistance. By reclaiming control over the narrative of their own lives, the different subjects onscreen express their refusal to accept the illusion of a singular identity, be that national, religious or personal.

Priya Sen’s Yeh Freedom Life (2019) pictures an intimate portrait of love and struggle as queer couples navigate their vulnerability and precariousness of love outside of societal constraints. Sarah Naqvi’s How Does One Say Queen in Islam (2020) invokes ghosts of heroic women from traditional storytelling to conjure a new and personalized version of Islamic history. In Letter from Your Far-Off Country (2020) Suneil Sanzgiri follows the entangled traces of self and community in the history of a distant homeland.

In Person: Suneil Sanzgiri, Priya Sen, Nehal Vyas, and Gavati Wad