The Secret’s Out

This is one of the stories in Oscar-winning director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s latest film,Transgenders: Pakistan’s Open Secret. Obaid-Chinoy has won many awards,including an Oscar and an Emmy; and this year,she has also appeared in Time’s list of 100 most influential people in the world. But the Karachi-based journalist-turned-documentary filmmaker says that telling stories about the oppressed is what makes her tick.

The 33-year-old’s film Saving Face chronicled the journey of survivors of acid violence in Pakistan and their subsequent reconstructive surgeries. On her way to Italy to attend the Gucci Women in Film Awards at the Venice Film Festival (where Saving Face is nominated),she talks about Transgenders,which was screened in the Capital on August 26,at an event organised by Engendered,an NGO. “Saving Face and Transgenders were filmed simultaneously. While the former was filmed for over a year,the latter was filmed in a shorter duration,” she says.

As the name suggests,the new film deals with the transgender community of Pakistan,which scrapes a living through dancing,singing and begging on the streets of Karachi. “There is a huge population of transgenders in South Asia and a majority of us do not acknowledge them as a third gender. For this reason,they are robbed off basic human rights and are forced to live a life of shame,” says Obaid-Chinoy. “Once people see the community from a humanist perspective,they will be forced to reassess their mindset,” she adds.

The story of Transgenders revolves around three women — Sana,Karachi’s most sought after transgender dancer who wants to give up the job after a gruesome gang rape; Chahat,who was abandoned by her middle-class family for her feminine ways; and Maggi. Obaid-Chinoy spent four months with her subjects,during which she entered their comfort zones and surveyed every inch of their lives.

Though the 53-minute documentary will release in Pakistan later this year,Obaid-Chinoy is undecided about its release dates in India. “I am confident that the film will impact Indians and Pakistanis in the same way. I hope it prompts a dialogue about the existing perception of transgender individuals in all of South Asia,” she says.

Obaid-Chinoy says that Sana was lucky enough to secure a job as a tax collector (currently the only official position offered to transgenders in Pakistan) and maintains ties with some family members,while Chahat begs for a livelihood and has not come to terms with her ostracism. Maggi still dreams of flying.