MARDISTAN (MACHOLAND)

REFLECTIONS ON INDIAN MANHOOD

Produced by PSBT (Public Service Broadcasting Trust, India)

28 min, 2014 - Hindi & Punjabi (W/ English Subtitles)

SHORT SYNOPSIS:

Mardistan (Macholand) explores what it means to be a man in India, a nation increasingly defined by social inequality and gender related violence.

LONG SYNOPSIS:

Mardistan (Macholand) is an exploration of Indian manhood articulated through the voices of four men from different generations and backgrounds. A middle-aged writer trying to make sense of the physical and sexual abuse he witnessed studying in an elite military academy, a Sikh father of twin daughters resisting the pressure to produce a son, a young 20-year-old college student looking for a girlfriend with whom he can lose his virginity, and a working-class gay activist coming out to his wife after twenty years of marriage. Together, their stories make up different dimensions of what it means to be a man in India today. Mardistan (Macholand) starts a conversation on critical issues including patriarchy, son preference, sexual violence and homophobia in a nation increasingly defined by social inequalities.

FILMMAKER BIO:

Harjant Gill is an assistant professor of anthropology and cultural studies at Towson University, Maryland. He received his PhD from American University in Washington DC. His academic research examines the intersections of masculinity, modernity and migration in India. Dr. Gill is also a documentary filmmaker and has made several films that have screened at film festivals worldwide and won numerous awards. His previous documentary, Roots of Love explored the changing significance of hair and turban among Sikhs and is being screened on BBC World News, BBC America, and Doordarshan (Indian National TV). He is currently also the co-director of Society for Visual Anthropology Film and Media Festival. His email is HGill@towson.edu

REVIEWS:

… a documentary that hopes for a brave new kind of Indian macho man (Firstpost)