A stunning short film, Bodies of Desire, examines sensuality from the perspective of queer South Asians. It bills itself as “videopoetry” and pairs a spoken word poem by co-director Varsha Panikar with opulent images of four queer couples. The poem is a part of Panikar’s broader series.
The majority of the actors in the cast were amateur performers. The actors had a drawn-out casting process that involved multiple rehearsals, choreography, and an intimacy workshop. The intimacy training was attended by the entire team and actors.
Panikar told Directors Notes: “We had a diverse group of people from various backgrounds and identities, and one notable thing that everybody discovered through the workshop, was a certain fluidity most of them felt in their own sexuality which they hadnโt expected but were quick to embrace, and that is the thing with intimacy and self-discovery. It is ever evolving.”
The film has been officially selected and screened at over 42 film festivals. These include Fringe Fest (UK), Outfest LA 2021(US), BFI Flare(UK), Berlin Commercials and Zebra Poetry Festival.
Bodies Of Desire won Special Jury Award for The Best International Short at RIO Festival De Cinema LGBTQIA+ 2021; received Honourable Mention at 24fps International Short Film Festival. It won Best Music Video at Global Indian Film Festival 2021. The film has also been curated by Nowness, Nowness Asia, GirlsInFilm, Otherness Archive and Directors Notes.
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: INDIA
CREW
Poetry, Screenplay & Voice : Varsha Panikar
Director(s) : Varsha Panikar & Saad Nawab
Cinematographer & Colourist : Kaushal Shah
Producer(s): Asawari Jagushte, Neha Vyas
Co-Producer(s) : Varsha Panikar, Saad Nawab, Kaushal Shah
Editor : Cornelia Nicolฤeasa, Romania
Composition and Mixing : Mark Spanoudakis, Greece
Executive Producer : Virender Singh
Styling : Omkar Sharma
Production : Eshita Chandna / Dhruvin Doshi / Shataakshi Verma
Assistant to Cinematographer: Siddharth Dutta
Focus Puller: Rahul Gaikwad
Grading Studio : Nube Cirrus
In association with : Anat
CAST
Shreya Sarkar (Kate)
Omkar Sharma (Adam)
Suruj Rajkhowa (Lovegood)
Vaishakh Sudhakaran (Olly)
Meheka CL (Electra)
Doel Rakshit (Aleya)
Sachin Das Gupta (Varun)
Sushant Khomane (Su)
Smriti Tiwari (Maya)
Track : The Blue Flame _ All rights reserved by Mark Spanoudaki
ยฉ2020 Bodies Of Desire _ All right reserved by Varsha Panikar
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