Demigods

“In the religion we are considered as demigods. We are the oldest ethnic transgender community in the world.” - Laxmi Tripathy Narayan

Transgender seems to be a recent notion in the West, but India has a centuries-old culture with the third gender. In Demigods we visit India with transgender author and model Valentijn De Hingh to get in touch with this exceptional community. Valentijn soon learns that the so-called ‘hijras’ or ‘kinnar’ are often victims of violence and abuse in India, and that they often end up in unsafe prostitution due to a lack of social prospects.

Valentijn has experienced difficulties with the classic western views on gender for her whole life. That is how she became fascinated with the Hindustan culture and so-called hijras. They are viewed as a third gender and are part of an ancient community that is linked to ritual practices within society. But despite that the hijras have practiced their religious role for centuries, they are more and more frequently subject to abuse and violence.

We travel to Mumbai, Delhi and Allahabad with Valentijn and look for transgender people in all layers of society. We tag along high priestess and media personality Laxmi Tripathy Naravan, visit places in metropoles where transgenders work as prostitutes, and are drawn into the festivities of the Delhi Queer Pride Parade.

With this documentary we want to inform the western viewers about the social problems that hijras face in India. After many years of abuse, the Indian transgenders want to see an end to the numerous humiliations that they are subject to. Valentijn links her personal experience as a western transgender to the difficult struggle for acknowledgement of an estimated two million hijras and transgender people in modern India.

The documentary aired on the Flemish television channel Canvas (March 30th and 31st, 2019) and on the Dutch channel NPO3 (July 27th)

The making of this documentary has been financed by VRT, VPRO and the Pascal Decroos Fund.

Production: Studio Tropics
Director: Stig Junes
DOP: Lorenz Florizoone
Presentation: Valentijn De Hingh
Production assistant/fixer: Dorothea Riecker
Interpretors: Pankaj Dutti, Punit Reddy