I am Bonnie (Sourabh Kanti Dutta, Farha Khatun, Satrupa Santra) India |

I AM BONNIE, Dirs. Sourabh Kanti Dutta, Farha Khatun, Satrupa Santra| India | 2016 | 45’

Bonnie(33) is again on the run. He has been on the run from his family and sports fraternity since failing ‘sex test’ before the Bangkok Asian Games, 1998. A born hermaphrodite, raised by poor, illiterate and confused parents as a girl named ‘Bandana’, s/he became one of the finest strikers of Indian Woman’s football team in her/his short career. A Sex Reassignment surgery later transformed her/him to a man but left him without home or career. He left home, took up idol-making for a living.He met Swati(24) then, married soon and moved once again fearing social backlash. His fight to establish his identity, struggle for existence met by a sarcastic society yet to learn to take ‘other genders’ seriously.

SOURABH KANTI DUTTA

National Award winner for his directorial debut – I am Bonnie/45’ on the tragedies, aspirations and achievements of an Intersex footballer in West Bengal, India, Sourabh worked in many genres of films/television/entertainment and documentaries in a career spanning over two decades.
His directorial debut I am Bonnie/45’ (with directors Farha Khatun and Satarupa Santra) premiered at the BFI Flare, London in 2016, and went on to win the Best Documentary Award at the Kolkata Intl. Film Festival in 2017 and the Pramod Pati Jury Award at the Mumbai Intl. Film Festival in 2018.

He won Navroz Contractor Award for Best Documentary Cinematography at IDSFFK in 2019 for the film Longra/27’ directed by Sankha.
He is the Cinematographer for Atasi/ 52’ by Dir. Putul Mahmood that won the Best Documentary Award at the Mumbai Intl. Film Festival in 2020.
A history graduate and a self-taught filmmaker Sourabh’s latest documentary Fatima/59’ an Indo-British production, is having its festival run now.
Sourabh is writing/developing his 1st feature length narrative fiction with writer Debashish Ghoshal.

FARAH KHATUN

Farha’s directorial debut film ‘I am Bonnie’, on the tragedies, aspirations and achievements of a transgender footballer, had the world premiere at BFI Flare: London LGBT Film Festival, got the National Award for best film on social issues, awarded the Best Documentary at Kolkata International Film Festival and screened at many other international festivals. Her first feature length film ‘Holy Rights’ on Safia who joins a program for training women as Qazis (judges of Sharia court) followed by the lived experience of several women who fight against the instant triple talaq practice (Divorce by saying Talaq thrice)– Won the National Award for best film on social issues, awarded the Impact Award and the Best Cinematography award at Vancouver IWFF, NATIONAL LAADLI media and advertising award for Gender Sensitivity 2020. The film was broadcasted on KLIK Indonesia and SBS Australia. Farha’s recent film ‘Ripples Under the Skin’ won Satyajit Ray Silver Award for the 2nd Best Documentary and Mrinal Sen Golden Award for the Best Direction in Documentary at 5th South Asian Short Film Festival.

SATRUPA SANTRA

Satarupa Santra, is a non-binary and queer (PAGFAB) filmmaker and educator hailing from Birati, West Bengal. She is one of the three directors of the massively applauded documentary “I am Bonnie” which has won multiple awards and accolades in addition to the Indian National Award for Indian films in 2017 and is working heart and soul for her upcoming project. Her learning and knowledge of filmmaking has emerged from years of experience in filmmaking from her association and experience of assisting eminent directors in Bengal.

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