Debalina Majumder

Debalina Majumder (born 1972, Calcutta, India) is an Indian filmmaker, photographer, writer, producer, and cinematographer.^[1] She studied Comparative Literature at Jadavpur University. Debalina has worked on feature-length documentary films, short films, travelogues, music videos, corporate films, telefilms and experimental films. She is passionate about environmental issues, gender, sexuality and occasionally writes for newspapers and magazines. She has also extensively worked as a cinematographer.

In 2005, her short film about mud football in Kolkata, (Sar..r..ra/ Joy Run) was selected to the <Shoot Goals! Shoot Movies!> short film competition, Berlinale Talent Campus, at Berlin, and also included in the FIFA 2006 World Cup Compilation. Since that time, her profile has been featuring in the website of Berlinale Talent Campus.

A fictional documentary made by her in 2010, Taar Cheye Se Anek Aaro (More Than a Friend), based on queer relationship, was discussed in the Indian film chapter of Queer Cinema in the World, a book by Karl Schoonover and Rosalind Galt, along with the movie ‘Fire’.

Based on the story of two lovers who committed suicide, in the village of Nandigram (West Bengal, India), Debalina's film "... ebang bewarish" ("...and the Unclaimed"), questioned social taboos and familial non-acceptance in regards to same-sex relationship.^[2] " Based on the same event, Debalina's fiction film "Abar Jodi Ichha Koro" (If You Dare Desire) was released in 2017.

She has then followed up with "Tin Sottyi..."(In Fact...), a celebration and documentation of three non-normative lives, Gay India Matrimony – a film that revolves around the subject of same-sex marriage equality while documenting the journey of three homosexual individuals in pursuit of a marital relationship and Porshi Neeler Arshinagar (Beyond The Blues), which documents the transitional journey of a transmasculine person. Citizen Nagar is currently in its post production phase, as is an experimental film, Amar Jiboni.

Another work of Debalina that was based on Ebong Bewarish (…and the unclaimed), was one of the six experimental queer films from around the world to get featured in an ensemble titled "Mass", as a part of the Outburst Queer Arts Festival in Belfast (2021).

Filmography

Photography

Debalina has always been very passionate about still photography. She has been documenting various environmental and political issues, protest marches, human right movements through her lenses. Also, for a long time, she has been photographing different species of birds in their natural habitat out of sheer interest.

The very first exhibition of her photographs with mixed media images by artist Archee Roy, was held on the 7^th and 8^th of December 2022 at the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR). This was an exhibition on experimental photographs of women's experiences and narratives of domestic violence titled "Gender Justice and Everyday Resilience – Surviving Domestic Violence in West Bengal", collated by Institute of Development Studies Kolkata (IDSK). The same exhibition was also held in Darjeeling from 24^th to 26^th of March 2023.

Awards

"... ebang bewarish" ("...and the unclaimed") received Jury Special Mention in the Documentary section of SiGNS 2014, organized by the Federation of Film Societies of India, Kerala on 1 June 2014. Nearly 160 films under categories such as national competition for documentaries and short films; artists’ cinema were screened at the 8th edition of SiGNS, the pioneering festival in India for digital videos.

"Abar Jodi Ichha Koro" (If You Dare Desire...) won the Diversity-award for best feature film at the 18th Barcelona International LGTIB Film Festival (2018), Barcelona, Spain and Best Film, Gender at the 6th Woodpecker International Film Festival, New Delhi, India, 2018

References