Representing Transnational Masculinity: Identity and Gender Roles in no budget Irish-Indian Films

Giovanna RampazzoPhD Candidate at Centre for Transcultural Research and Media PracticeDublin Institute of Technology – Dublin

Filmmakers do not have access to professional equipment and film studios. They use their own equipment, and public spaces and private houses as locations

Jijo S. Palatty and Ajith Kesavan Filming The Circle in Dublin city centre

Using a wheelchair to achieve a tracking shot

A group of Keralite filmmakers in Dublin

Photos: Giovanna Rampazzo

The Iris Film Society functions as a platform to make and screen independent films

Poster of a short film festival organized by the Iris Film Society in 2012

Poster advertising the screening of Jijo S. Palatty’s latest film The Circle

Films are screened in Community Centres used by Indian communities to organize cultural activities

The Ballyowen Community Centre in Lucan hosts Kerala House, a Keralite association (Photos: Giovanna Rampazzo)

Binu Daniel of the Iris Film Society introduces the screening of Jijo S. Palatty’s The Circle at Kerala House

Brief History of Malayalam Cinema Film industry based in the Indian state of Kerala producing film in the Malayalam language1950s: Film production boosted by the support from the

Kerala state governmentFrom the 1960s: Strong art film production helmed by

directors Adoor Gopalakrishnan, G. Aravindan and Shaji Karun. Film Society Movement begun promoting film as an art form

1980s Golden age of Malayalam cinema: art film became commercially successful.

1990s Commercial film production deteriorated due to the competition of stronger film industries such as Bollywood.

2010s: emergence of ‘New Generation Malayalam Cinema’ commercially successful experimental films made with small budgets

Naalu Pennungal (Four Women, 2007) directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan

A drama centred around four women of different social backgrounds living in rural Kerala. Adaptation of short stories by Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai

Adoor Gopalakrishnan won the National Film Award for Best Direction for the film

Nurses from Kerala have a history of emigration80% of Indian nurses are from KeralaSince the 1960s Keralite nurses have migrated to central Europe, the Persian Gulf, the US, the UK, and recently Ireland

Keralite men based in Ireland are very active in their communities and organize cultural events that contribute to the realization of their film projects

Being a nurse’s husband: a challenge to traditional masculinity

‘The men I met in Ireland have to assume a new division of labour within their couple; for a new generation, it comes to assume a job for long considered as a purely women’s job.’

Marie Percot - Transnational Masculinity: Indian Nurses’ Husbands in Ireland (2012: 85)

Examples of films made by Keralite filmmakers in Dublin

Short Sight (2011) by Biju Mullamkuzhithadathil 13 mins

Parakayapravesham (To Take Another Human Form, 2013) by Jijo S. Palatty – 15 mins

Short Sight (2011) by Biju Mullamkuzhithadathil

Stills from Short Sight

Stills from Short Sight

Poster of the film

Photos of the making of Parakayapravesham (courtesy of Jijo S. Palatty)

Parakayapravesham (To Take Another Human Form, 2013) by Jijo S. Palatty

Stills from Parakayapravesham

Men are losing their status as head of their family

‘The immigrant men experienced loss of status

in two ways: both in terms of their relations to

their wives and in relation to their position

before immigration’

Sheba George - “Dirty Nurses” and “Men Who Play” Gender and Class in Transnational Migration (2005 : 155)

Stills from Parakayapravesham

Keralite short films as an example of ‘Accented Cinema’

‘the accent emanates not so much from the

accented speech of the diegetic characters as

from the displacement of the filmmakers and

their artisanal production modes’

Hamid Naficy - An Accented Cinema: Exilic and Diasporic Filmmaking (2001: 4)

Films are uploaded on Youtube where viewers can see them and leave their comments

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oOgUhmKkts

Viewers can relate to the experiences portrayed in the films

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hEpjHKvq2E

News about their film on Indian media raises the profile of Irish based Filmmakers

Article on Jijo S. Palatty Parakayapravesham on ‘The Indian Express’ 06.04.2014

From Jijo S. Palatty’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/jijo.spalatty?fref=ts

news in 'Manorama' about The Circle, Jijo S. Palatty latest film

Filmmaking allows Indian men to regain an active role

‘men have obviously more time than their wives to spend in these activities of communication. However, this kind of monopoly allows them to appear as the actual head of the family and to reaffirm their image as successful migrants in their home country.’

Marie Percot - Transnational Masculinity: Indian Nurses’ Husbands in Ireland (2012: 84)

Thank yougiovanna.rampazzo@mydit.ie