A lawsuit for blasphemy is the least of Sona Mohapatra’s problems. The Indian singer is being sued by a religious community because her musical interpretation of an 800-year-old poem is too Western, vulgar and provides a poor example to the young. She receives death threats. Trolls insult her on social media day and night. In addition, she is barred from performing lucrative gigs at universities because she accused a powerful promoter of excluding female artists in an open letter. But Sona won’t stop drawing attention to abuses. However loudly the machos and misogynists bay for her to shut up.
Deepti Gupta followed the rebellious face of the Indian #MeToo movement for three years, resulting in an intimate portrait and feminist pamphlet. It shows how tough the fight for equal rights is in a country with such strong patriarchal traditions and a history of violently suppressing women.
Free admission on Wed 29 Jan, also see Scopitone Café.
Film details
- Country of production
- India
- Year
- 2019
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2020
- Length
- 85'
- Medium/Format
- DCP
