One day, during the pandemic, Kamla Bhasin called me and asked "I am loving all the films Kriti Film Club is showing online! Can we do an online screening to celebrate South Asian Women's Day since we can't do it physically this year?" I said “ofcourse and we can do more than one film too”! 

I then conceptualised the Beyond Borders Feminist Film Festival, as a South Asian festival of films and organised its first online edition from 30th November to 10th December 2020 on our online portal ‘Doculive’. The festival was named in sync with the unforgettable quote “I am not a wall that divides – I am a crack in that wall”—that pushes us to challenge and break through patriarchal, social, religious walls within and across the South Asian region.

The festival was supported by Sangat! Kamla di saw almost each and every film in that first edition and was at the online film discussions too!!

Kamla di left us so suddenly in 2021 but my commitment to her did not…

What began in 2020 and continued as an online festival in 2021, the festival became hybrid in 2022 (in-person/ online) and 2023 (in-person/ online). We have shown 220 films over four editions from across South Asia, reached approximately 16000 online viewers (over four editions) and approximately 2000 in-person viewers over two editions. The festival has received over 50000 eyeballs over social media and website content. Well-known documentarian, Reena Mohan has been a pillar of support for the curation with me over four editions. 

Some very basic funds have come from Jagori for these editions (this being their last one), some tiny individual donations came last year from friends! However, the current available budget is not at all sufficient to do a festival like BBFFF, so as to include filmmaker participation (travel and accommodation); catalogue, design and publicity, website, documentation, ground-logistics and hospitality; wider audience reach and the support to the team that runs the festival.

This post is an urgent appeal for funding the 2024 edition for what this festival creates and offers to South Asian films and filmmakers; the audience that gets to watch and discuss feminist cinema in-person (in New Delhi) and online (across the world). We make a special effort to include local community audience in Delhi-NCR and students to watch the films by curating special Hindi language films together.

The Delhi edition will be organised at two venues, from 28th November to 9th December 2024, and will be followed by an online edition of selected films.  We also plan to include some master classes in feminist filmmaking in this edition. 

This fundraiser goal amount aims to cover the costs for this edition and also take parts of the festival to other locations in India, as possible, with additional local partnerships and hosting support, We can also travel with the whole or parts of the festival to any location in South Asia, through partnerships and support! 

Our immediate deadline for raising these resources is 30th September 2024 and the last mile deadline is 31st December 2024.

Individuals, Collectives and Institutions are invited to make donations, grants and sponsorships to make this festival your own for South Asian and feminist solidarity when we need it most! You can email me on space.kriti@gmail.com for more details or to meet and take this forward!

Here is a glimpse of the 2023 festival, to give you the vibes of what is possible and more!