Are queer films viable?

CHENNAI: When Hollywood film, Brokeback Mountain, received eight Oscar nominations in 2005, but lost the Best Picture Award to Crash, there were talks  about the Academy being homophobic. Though, one can’t be sure of these accusations, it is important that such issues be addressed. That is exactly what happened at the panel discussion ‘The Role of the Film Industry in Changing the Perspective of Homosexuality in the South Indian Context,’ which took place at the Goethe Institute Auditorium, Nungambakkam, on July 21. Though there has been a positive shift in the way the subject of homosexuality has been broached in the recent past, the panel, featuring Monika Treut, a film director from Germany, Gautami, film actress, Sunil Menon, director of Sahodaran and Shobna Kumar, editor of Queer Ink, discussed ways in which the representation of the LGBT community could be bettered. Monika’s talk provided a German angle to the discussion, and how it has come a long way. Most of the panelists felt that there were hardly any takers to produce queer films considering its lack of audience, but Gautami was quick to point out that commercial films are successful because an audience was created for them, and if the same can be done for queer films, they will begin to be viable, too.When it was immediately brought to attention that any number of films can be uploaded on YouTube or queer literature can be made available, Sunil was pragmatic in explaining, “Things like YouTube and queer literature belong to a niche category and not everyone will have access to it.”After talking about how most actors in America are identified by the queer roles they portray, Monika asked Goutami if it would hurt her career if she played the role of a lesbian in a south Indian film. After a hesitating, the actress replied, “I think it could be interpreted as having an overdose of attitude, but I would make my own rules as I go along. I would not base my decision of playing a lesbian on the commercial value, but on character interest.”Indian films like Goa, Dostana and Chandupottu (Malayalam) do have their shortcomings in sensitively representing the queer community, but they definitely provide the much needed starting point.