Skip to main content
I Am Revathi film image; person looking out a window from a dark room

I Am Revathi

Njaan Revathi / நான் ரேவதி

Focus

This event has passed

International Premiere

I Am Revathi offers a deeply personal and intimate glimpse into the life of A. Revathi — trans woman, writer, activist, and theatre artist. P. Abhijith’s documentary traces Revathi’s journey from Namakkal, Tamil Nadu, to the hijra communities of Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru in the mid-1980s, revealing the harsh realities and quiet resilience that shaped her path. Through powerful recollections by Revathi and her contemporaries, the film explores her transformation into a prominent voice for trans rights in India.

Despite legal recognition, transgender individuals in India continue to face a range of systemic challenges. Alongside Revathi’s story, Abhijith depicts the lived experiences of transgender people in India and sheds light on their struggles, power, and ongoing fight for visibility, dignity, and inclusion. I Am Revathi recognizes the resistance and community building of trans activists and collectives as they work to highlight the broader realities of trans lives.

 

Presented by

Media Partner

Community Partner

           

Director
Featuring

A. Revathi

Credits
Country of Origin

India

Year

2025

Language

In Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam with English subtitles

Film Contact
Links
18+
115 min
Cinemas of Asia Documentary Human Rights & Social Justice LGBTQIA2S+

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Credits & Director

Producer

A. Shobhila

Screenwriter

P. Abhijith

Cinematography

Mohamed A.

Editor

AmalJith

Original Music

Rajesh Vijay, Shyaam S.K.

P. Abhijith headshot

P. Abhijith അഭിജിത്ത് പി

P. Abhijith is a native of Kozhikode, India. He is a filmmaker and chief photojournalist with Madhyamam who has been effectively bringing attention to the transgender community of Kerala, India, through images, visuals, and writing since 2007. His photo exhibition played a crucial role in the implementing the official state policy recognizing and supporting transgender people in Kerala, the first of its kind in the country.

Filmography: Antharam (2023)

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

ERASERHEAD XIU XIU

90 min

The Canadian premiere of ERASERHEAD XIU XIU — American experimental rock band Xiu Xiu’s live exploration of the sonic and visual universe of David Lynch’s iconic cult film Eraserhead. A hallucinatory take on the most singular of midnight masterpieces.

The Rio Theatre
Short Forum 6: Archive Lives!
These Voices Are Real film image; feet walking past a doll on the ground

Short Forum 6: Archive Lives!

107 min

Before anything becomes archival, it’s lived.

International Village 8

Forest High

Dir. Manon Coubia
106 min

High in the northern Alps, three women take turns caring for a mountain lodge as hikers come and go. Divided into three sections, we follow each caretaker as they settle in for their respective season and have their lives touched in different ways.

Image: © The Blue raincoat

The Cinematheque VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Behemoth!

Dir. Tony Gilroy
127 min

In this soul-searching character piece from veteran writer-director Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton; Andor), Pedro Pascal plays Alex, a cellist reevaluating his life choices as he returns home to Los Angeles after an ill-advised love affair.

The Park Theatre
The Diary of a Chambermaid
The Diary of a Chambermaid headshot; two people looking serious in a kitchen

The Diary of a Chambermaid

Dir. Radu Jude
94 min

Radu Jude adapts Octave Mirbeau’s classic (and much-filmed) novel in a uniquely Jude fashion, with our oppressed chambermaid prodded by her smug employers to star in a production of... Diary of a Chambermaid. This is a sly and subversive satire.

Fifth Avenue Cinema - 19+ only International Village 10
A Long Winter
A Long Winter film image; upside down shot of someone lying in the snow

A Long Winter

Dir. Andrew Haigh
117 min

Based on a short story by Colm Toibin and set in the Rockies in the 1950s, the latest from All of Us Strangers director Andrew Haigh is a piercing emotional drama about a family facing hardships over a few months in a cabin far above town.

Vancouver Playhouse The Park Theatre The Rio Theatre