Astitva is an experimental & documentary research film split between 3 screens and 5 projectors.
 

Grounded in a historical past, the film weaves together experiences of joy and safety in the daily lives of Indian transgender men, women and non-binary people through their art, performance, and journals.

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Months of primary and secondary research across over 10 creative approaches, art styles and discourses including: decoloniality, documentary ethics, de-westernisation, Indian experimental + moving image art, and Hindu mythology, developed a complex and ever-evolving film research project.

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The combination of self-shot footage from India, shadow puppetry and abstract direct animation on super 8mm film challenges mainstream trans* narratives of trauma, pain and objectivity by handing the camera and gaze over to trans* people, and forms a visual dialogue between contemporary and past stories of gender-variance.