Saathi : Kolkata – A Glimpse into the SAATHII, Calcutta Office Reference Library

A Glimpse into the SAATHII, Calcutta Office Reference Library

SAATHII, Calcutta Office Reference Library has in the Video Compact Discs Section –

1) 68 Pages (Hindi)

Director: Sridhar Rangayan

Producer: Humsafar Trust, Mumbai

Genre / Duration / Year: Feature film, 90 minutes, 2007

Description: Coming from a country like India that is still in denial, where being HIV positive is still a curse, “68 Pages” rips open the underbelly of its society to reveal how it stigmatizes and shuns those who are HIV positive or even those who just want to be what they are. Through “68 Pages of a counselor’s diary, we see the stories of Payal, a sex worker; Nishit, an ID user; Kiran, a gay man and Umrao, a transsexual bar dancer – their stories of pain and fear, humiliation and rejection – not only by the society, but even by their loved ones. While these stories expose the shadowiness of the system, it also offers hopes and healing by trying to bring about a better understanding of their fight to live with dignity. The film is a tribute to the human sprit of optimism and survival.

2) Phir Milenge (Hindi)        

Director: Revathi

Producer: Telephoto Entertainments Ltd.

Genre / Duration / Year: Feature film, 136 minutes, 2004

Description: This is first ever film in bollywood to deal with HIV/AIDS.It is heavily inspired by the American film “Philadelphia”. Tamanna Sahni (Shilpa Shetty) is a dedicated staff member of a top advertising agency, her ideas and designs have mainly contributed to the success of the agency. She leaves for a college reunion and meets her college sweetheart Rohit (Salman Khan). They rekindle their love for each other and share some intimate moments together. Eventually Rohit leaves and Tamanna settles back into her normal daily routine.

When her sister, Tanya, has an accident she decides to give her own blood to save her. However her doctor, Dr. Raisingh (Revathi), tells her that she has been tested positive for HIV. Tamanna’s world turns upside down and she desperately tries to get into contact with Rohit but in vain. Her situation is soon known around the office and she loses her job. Angered by her unfair dissmissal she searches for a lawyer to fight her case. Eventually Tarun Anand (Abhishek Bachchan) agrees to represent her.

3) Boys Don’t Cry (English)

Director: Kimberly Peirce

Producer:  Kimberly Peirce and Andy Bienen

Genre / Duration / Year: Feature film, 119 minutes, 1999

Description: This film is an independent drama film based on the real-life story of Brandon Teena, a young transman who was raped and murdered on December 31, 1993 by his male friends after they found out he had female genitalia. The film features Hilary Swank as Brandon Teena and Chloë Sevigny as Brandon’s girlfriend Lana Tisdel. The entire film moves around the female to male transgender Teena and “his” struggle with heteronormative society.

4) Strangers in the Rain (English)
Director: Dr. Tirthankar Guha Thakurta
Producer: Anupam Sharma, Anupam Hazra and Rupesh Chaudhuri
Genre / Duration / Year: Feature Film, 30 minutes, 2007
Description: Three friends with varying sexual orientations decide to live together. The story unfolds as they pass through the adversities of living in an unconventional relationship in a society too closeted with its straight-jacketed perception of morality. They have a child who grows up in their loving care, until a weird sequence of events forces one of them to leave home. The story is narrated as the child, now grown-up, speaks to a journalist friend about the lives of his three parents.

Please visit our reference library for more books, journals and audio-visual material on Sexuality, Gender, Sexual Health, Human Rights, HIV/AIDS and related development issues

Open – Monday to Friday 3 to 7 p.m.

Our full updated catalogue can be accessed at http://saathii.org/gensex/calcutta/library.html

For any enquiry please call at 91 33 2337 9880 or write to us at saathiihelpline@rediffmail.com

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