Onir kicks off the My Melbourne project, with his film based on the subject of sexuality

The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne kicks off the My Melbourne project, with its first film by Onir based on the subject of sexuality. The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne wrapped up the much-anticipated shooting of the first film out of four films under the My Melbourne project. The film, which is yet to be named, is co-directed by Onir and William Duan.

It stars Arka Das, Mouli Ganguli, and Jackson Gallagher. The film was shot in five days and the story is based on grief and forgiveness. The film follows the reunion of a queer Indian man, Indraneel, played by Arka, and his father, Mihir, played by Mouli, after many years of estrangement.

Onir said, “I am happy to be part of My Melbourne as it is a unique special film. It’s the first time such a unique cross-country initiative has been taken to bridge cultural ties and bring the two communities together using the medium of cinema. The films of My Melbourne are based on diversity and are focused on bringing forth talent locally from Melbourne and I can vouch that there are such incredible local talents waiting to be discovered and this project has done just that. My film tells one such story of an integral part of diversity, bringing forth a warm story of a father trying to re-bond with his gay son. It was a great experience to work and collaborate with talent from Melbourne. I am glad that Film Victoria and Mitu Bhowmick Lange have taken this step to celebrate cinema and diversity.

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Mitu Bhowmik Lange, director of the festival says, “This is a very ambitious project of love celebrating the core values of IFFM – Diversity and inclusivity. The key idea was to provide a platform to emerging creatives from diverse marginalised backgrounds from various walks and abilities of Australia, mentored by some of the World’s best film makers. It’s an anthology of four stories weaved into one feature film called My Melbourne based on authentic migrant experiences. We cannot be what we cannot see.”

IFFM is one of the biggest film festivals abroad, which is in association with the Australian Government. My Melbourne project brings four iconic filmmakers from India to mentor young filmmakers from Australia, which will be shot in Melbourne, will be on the themes of Diversity – Race, Disability, Sexuality and Gender. Apart from Onir, the other three films will be helmed by Kabir Khan, Imtiaz Ali and Rima Das.