Sab Rab De Bande is an Indian documentary featuring stories of Sikh queer individuals in India. [1] The 28-minute documentary film by Sukhdeep Singh (who is one of the stories himself) explores the perception of homosexuality in the Sikh religion. [2] The film was premiered at Orinam's Reel Desire Queer Film Festival. [3] The film was also a part of the South Asian Heritage Month in 2021. [4] The documentary is narrated by Anwesh Sahoo. [5]
Gaysi appreciated the film and wrote "Sab Rab De Bande effectively captures the struggle that queer people go through when considering their faiths and religious identity.The lack of clear representation of Sikh queer persons in regional as well as popular media poses the difficulty of feeling included in their community. [1] Firstpost on the other hand was relatively critical of the film and published, "The running time of the film does not allow for a deep dive into some of the ideas here. The filmmaker has carefully selected stories of people who are proud of their Sikh identity. They see no reason to abandon it. If the film had also included LGBTQ Sikhs who have given up their faith, the narrative would have been different from what it is at present. [2] Feminism in India wrote a mixed review, Sab Rab De Bande successfully captures the battle that most queer people fight if they are to keep believing in their faith and also in themselves. Even though the documentary brings together various narratives which are valuable experiences from a community that has not spoken about queerness before, at times it feels like that it is too linear, too unidirectional, lacking a certain nuance. [6]
Curve is a global lesbian media project. It covers news, politics, social issues, and includes celebrity interviews and stories on entertainment, pop culture, style, and travel.
The KASHISH Pride Film Festival is an annual LGBTQ event that has been held in Mumbai, India, since 2010. The film festival screens gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer films from India and around the world. It is voted as one of the top five LGBT film festivals in the world.
India has a vibrant LGBTQ culture, especially in its large cities due to growing acceptance in the recent years.
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Antony Hickling is an English Independent film maker, actor, writer and voiceover actor. He became a French citizen in 2018.
Orinam is a non-funded, social, and activist collective that works to enhance understanding of alternate sexualities and gender identities among families, communities and society. It was founded in 2003 in Chennai under the name MovenPick and is one of the oldest collective of its kind in India. People affiliated with Orinam are from or trace their ancestry to the following geo-cultural: People of Tamil Origin from Tamil Nadu, India. Orinam provides a platform for creative expression, personal and social commentary by Queer people of Tamil Origin and of Indian Origin primarily. Orinam also acts as a local support group in Chennai for the queer community. Orinam also partners with the city-, state- and national initiatives around decriminalisation of homosexuality by amending Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code and LGBTQ rights.
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Sher Vancouver is a registered charity in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer South Asians and their friends. The full name of the organization is the Sher Vancouver LGBTQ Friends Society. The society was originally founded as an online Yahoo group for LGBTQ Sikhs in April 2008 by social worker Alex Sangha of Delta, B.C.
Alex Sangha is a Canadian social worker and documentary film producer. He is the founder of Sher Vancouver which is a registered charity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) South Asians and their friends. Sangha was the first Sikh to become a Grand Marshal of the Vancouver Pride Parade. Sangha received the Meritorious Service Medal from Governor General Julie Payette in 2018 for his work founding Sher Vancouver. Sangha's first short documentary film, My Name Was January, won 14 awards and garnered 66 official selections at film festivals around the world. Sangha's debut feature documentary, Emergence: Out of the Shadows, was an official selection at Out on Film in Atlanta, Image+Nation in Montreal, and Reelworld in Toronto. The film was the closing night film at both the South Asian Film Festival of Montreal and the Vancouver International South Asian Film Festival where it picked up Best Documentary. Emergence: Out of the Shadows also had a double festival premiere at the KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival and the Mumbai International Film Festival during the same week, where it was in competition at both film festivals for Best Documentary. The film also had an in-person and online screening at the 46th annual Frameline: San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival which is "the longest-running, largest and most widely recognized LGBTQ+ film exhibition event in the world."
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