Ladies and Gentlewomen

2017 Indian film

Ladies And Gentlewomen

Directed by| Malini Jeevarathnam [1]
Produced by| Pa. Ranjith's Neelam Productions
Cinematography| Praveen Kumar, Jai Shankar, Arun, Siddharth Krishnamurthy, Vipin Waghmare, Satish Meiyappan, Ramesh
Edited by| B.Pravin Baaskar,
G.A Gowtham
Music by| Justin Prabhakaran

Release dates

* January 2017 (2017-01) (Chennai Rainbow)
* 21 January 2018 (2018-01-21) (India)

Running time

| 47 minutes[2]
Country| India
Languages| English, Tamil

Ladies and Gentlewomen is a Tamil language, Indian documentary by Malini Jeevarathnam and produced by Pa. Ranjith.[3] It is about love, life, and suicide among lesbians.[4] The documentary also features a "Lesbian Anthem" for which the music was composed by Justin Prabhakaran[5] and lyrics were penned by Kutti Revathi and Damayanthi.[6][7]

## Synopsis

[edit]

Ladies and Gentlewomen is an attempt to break the silence in the area of comprehending the dynamics of lesbianism .Probably the first move in Tamil scenario, this Documentary aims to dialogue about the conspicuous silence around the body politics and Relationship which is misspelt as social Stigma. challenging the silence emerged from constant fight against Socially accepted identities. With absolutely no response to the suicidal cases, the Social Rejection of lesbianism leads to the documentary sternly projecting the question to the society .

" Why the hell, do you care about Someone's love When you dont care a speck about someone's suicide?"

The documentary narrates the tale of Tija and Bija, a lesbian couple believed to be from Rajasthan, and is also about a Tamil folktale that features the lovers Pappathi and Karupaayi.[8] It also features different perspectives on lesbian women from LGBTQ activists, journalists, lawyers and common people.[9] She says her main aim is to increase the visibility of queer women and to save lesbian women from committing suicide or them being a subject of honor killings.[10][11]

## Production

[edit]

Director claimed the research for the film took her one-and-a-half years, and the movie took three years to complete altogether. Her main intention, she claims, is to bring focus to the deaths of LGBT persons and their sufferings.[12] As a part of the research, Malini met around 85 women from the Queer community. Many were not ready to talk about their sexuality in front of the camera.[9] The film premiered at the Chennai Rainbow Film Festival in Chennai on 8 January 2017.[13]

## Awards and nominations

[edit]

This documentary has received Best Documentary awards at the Norway Tamil Film Festival, nominated for an award at the Pune International Queer Film Festival Out & Loud, and received many other accolades around the world.[6] It has been screening at 11 different international film festivals and has won the Best Documentary award at three of them.[14] In India, the movie has been screen at Chennai International Queer Film Festival, Bangalore Queer Film Festival, Hyderabad chapter of Queer Campus Bangalore and received rave reviews in many other cities.[15]

2017 Chennai Rainbow Film Festival[16]

* Won: Best Documentary

2017 Norway Tamil Film Festival

* Won: Best Documentary

## References

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1. ^ Shajini S R (1 August 2017). "LGBTQ art fest blurs boundaries, garners ovation". The Times of India. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
2. ^ Priya Menon (3 December 2016). "A rich fare for Chennai rainbow film fete". The Times of India. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
3. ^ "from Chennai, an anthem for lesbian love". 2 April 2017.
4. ^ "When love is gay and sundry". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 21 March 2018. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
5. ^ "It ends with a hug". Deccan Herald. 13 March 2018. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
6. ^ a b "Watch: This Tamil lesbian anthem is a challenge to all those who are illiberal about love". 7 April 2017.
7. ^ "Pa Ranjith launches 'Ladies and Gentlewomen', story of queen meets queen". The News Minute. 17 January 2018. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
8. ^ "'Ladies And Gentlewomen' – Malini Jeevarathnam Helms A Documentary About Lesbian Relationships". Archived from the original on 3 February 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
9. ^ a b Vijayta Lalwani (7 April 2017). "Malini Jeevarathnam – Bringing Lesbian Rights to the Fore". Retrieved 5 August 2017.
10. ^ KaeLyn (9 April 2017). "Sunday Funday Is Swiping Left on LGBTQ Discrimination". Retrieved 24 August 2017.
11. ^ "Queer Film Festival brings 88 unusual works to city". Deccan Herald. 4 March 2018. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
12. ^ M Suganth (31 March 2017). "This Lesbian Anthem sings a tune of change". The Times of India.
13. ^ "3RD CHENNAI RAINBOW FILM FESTIVAL HELD FROM 4TH TO 8TH JAN". 13 January 2017.
14. ^ "Pushing boundaries: 88 films from 30 countries at Bengaluru Queer Film Festival". The News Minute. 7 March 2018. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
15. ^ "A queer carnival to remember". Deccan Chronicle. 12 September 2017. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
16. ^ "Celebrating queer pride". The Hindu. 27 July 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2017.