Film

BETWEEN THE LINES: INDIA'S THIRD GENDER

5:00 pm, Sunday, November 12th, Roxie Cinema, San Francisco
Admission: $8
Director: Thomas Wartmann
Country: Germany (2006)
Running Time: 80 min, 35mm, DV-Doc.
In English

Between the Lines perceptively explores the lives of India's 'Eunuchs' - The Hijras, living as outcasts on the edge of society.

Officially the existence of Hijras is denied and their universe itself is highly inconsistent: Hijras are infertile - yet, according to the Hindu religion they have 'a talent to spread fertility'. Although they have no apparent sexual organs, the erotic is omnipresent in their everyday lives.

Laxmi, a glamorous dance teacher; Rambha, a romantic eighteen year old; and Asha, a jaded alcoholic, share the secrets of their spiritual, emotional and gender identities as Hijras in Mumbai.

Followed and befriended by a young female photographer Anita Khemka's, they take her to their homes, bars, brothels and temples-- windows into their dangerous yet liberated life on the margins-- often turning her inquisitive questions back on their questioner.

This visually stunning and powerful film makes us participants in a journey, Causing us to seek answers to the contradictory nature of our own lives as we witness Laxmi, Rambha and Asha bravely define their own identities.


(The well renowned cinematographer of Rivers and Tide, Thomas Riedelsheimer, shot and edited Between the Lines.)