I Am Sirat is a personal, vulnerable autobiographic documentary by Sirat Taneja about her experience as a transwoman in India, where she lives a dual life. Collaborating with acclaimed filmmaker Deepa Mehta, Sirat shot the film with her smartphone (taking advantage of her own experience building a platform on Instagram), capturing the real portrait of herself literally and metaphorically. While supported by a queer network of friends in Delhi and on Instagram, Sirat reverts to the closet at home. Living with and caring for her widowed mother, Sirat is forced to maintain the familial and cultural duties and responsibilities a son would traditionally provide, since her mother doesn’t understand or accept Sirat’s true self. As Sirat seeks to reshape her life and be true to herself while fulfilling her mother’s obligations, the film explores the larger social implications of queer identity and acceptance in India. An empowering portrait of a transwoman wrestling with cultural limitations while sharing her story with the world.
September 29: Q&A with co-director Deepa Mehta
Supported by
Community Partner
Canada
2023
Showcase
In Punjabi with English subtitles
Sexual Discrimination
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Credits
Executive Producer
Dilip Mehta
Producer
David Hamilton
Cinematography
Deepa Mehta
Editor
Kabir Singh Chowdhry
Production Design
Maithili Venkataraman
A Collaboration Between
Deepa Mehta
Deepa Mehta is an Oscar-nominated filmmaker whose emotionally resonating work is known to be provoking and challenging. Her films have played major film festivals around the globe and been distributed in over 75 countries. Her films include The Elemental Trilogy: Fire, Earth and the Oscar nominated Water, Bollywood/Hollywood, Heaven on Earth, Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children, Beeba Boys, Anatomy of Violence, and recently Funny Boy, which won Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Score at the Canadian Screen Awards. Deepa has directed numerous TV episodes that include Netflix’s Leila, Apple TV’s Little America and Showtime’s Yellowjackets.
Filmography: Fire (1996); Earth (1998); Water (2005); Heaven on Earth (2008); Midnight’s Children (2012)
Sirat Taneja
Sirat Taneja a transgender woman who lives in New Delhi, India. She works in the Accounts Department at the Ministry of Social Defence. Previously, she worked at Love Life Society, an NGO working with people living with HIV or AIDS and Sexual Minorities on the issues of HIV/AIDS.
You Might Also Like
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Chez Jolie Coiffure
Having immigrated to Belgium from Cameroon, Sabine manages Chez Jolie Coiffure. Her salon patrons, many of them undocumented immigrants, are not only be made to feel beautiful but can also escape the daily difficulties and harsh realities of their lives.
No Other Land
Deemed by many critics one of the essential films of 2024, a multiple festival award winner and a nominee for the Academy Award for Best Documentary, No Other Land is a reminder that mass expulsion is by no means a new reality for Palestinians.
Atlantics
In Dakar, Ada loves Souleiman but has been promised to another man. One night, Souleiman and his co-workers leave the country by sea. Several days later, a fire ruins Ada's wedding and a mysterious fever starts to spread. It seems Souleiman has returned.