Around the middle point of SxSW 2023, I made one single visit to the Violet Crown 4 in Austin, a very tiny little micro plex with four screens that reminds me of a modern version of the Eaton Centre Cineplex in Toronto. Small seating area and small to medium sized screens, the key feature is a front row of leather seating with foot rests. Not as fancy as a modern cinema with a power recliner and 60 foot screens, but after watching so many movies in the cramped seats at Paramount, this was definitely a nice change of pace. I mention this because it was the perfect setting for this small, intimate movie from India called EK JAGAH APNI (A Place Of Our Own) that I watched with about 30 other people
ABOUT: Laila and Roshni, two trans women, are looking for a house after they are evicted from the place they rented. Their search for a home is also their ongoing search for a place in this society that wants to keep them away in a section that can not be the center. They have a friend in Sharukh, but many of their other interactions don’t turn out as expected. Laila is torn between being true to herself and preserving links with her biological family. Roshni treads a fine line between concealing her identity and living the life that she wants, but it is not without its dangers. The film was part of NFDC Film Bazaar’s, Work in Progress Lab 2021, and showcased in Goes to Cannes, Marche du Film 2022.
JASON’S REACTION: I Interviewed the collective on this movie and it’s a rather interesting little character study, a Hindi language story about two trans-individuals who are facing a lot of challenges in trying to find a new home. Pretty much everything felt quite real with the minor bit of music and songs intercut in with the street sequences which feel almost documentary in nature. Though this is a very small Indian movie it still may find an audience, and it was mentioned in the Q&A that the movie IS going to be spreading to more film festivals. It has quite a bit of a charm throughout and certainly much more intimate than your usual Bollywood or Tollywood epic and it’s nice to see these stories; I quite liked the realism and all of the life-like feel of the street scenes where it seems like the camera was hidden. This will be very hard to find but it’s rewarding if you come across this one.
This film and many others like it showed at South By Southwest this year from March 10-19. For more information on this and other titles, point your browser to www.sxsw.com!