'Female Gaze' Category At Kerala Film Fest: Why This Is Revolutionary

The International Film Festival Kerala (IFFK) saw a remarkable new addition to the categories of films celebrated this year. The category called 'Female Gaze', specially meant to represent the peerless talent of women in filmmaking, sparked a new hoard of conversations at the festival, as reported by several news outlets. French filmmaker Golda Sellam was the curator of the festival in Thiruvananthapuram this year and stated that the Female Gaze category was introduced to highlight the diverse viewpoints of women filmmakers worldwide.

The Female Gaze category had eight films by women filmmakers across the world, making the festival an amalgamation of different cultures. It also identified the varying perspectives on the feminine psyche and womanhood in different corners of the world. However, some of the filmmakers who were panel members at the event, like Namita Lal and Shruthi Sharanyam, opined that the gender-related category is limiting but also appreciated the intent behind introducing it.

Eight Films In Female Gaze Category

The Kerala Chalachitra Academy, which conducts IFFK, collaborated with Golda Sellam this year and decided on having a category for female directors, to promote more women participating in arts and culture. Eight films have been carefully culled out of a large collection to be represented in the Female Gaze category, Sellam told The News Minute. 

The films are Four Daughters, directed by Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania, about a working-class woman and her four girls; Footprints on Water by Nathalia Syam, the story of an illegal Indian immigrant in Birmingham, who seeks a better life for his daughter; Houria by Mounia Meddour, about a 25-year-old Algerian woman's aspirational dance career despite limited opportunities;

A French film, Banel & Adama, directed by Ramata-Toulaye Sy about a couple's wish to live together, away from each other's families, was also screened; Next Sohee by Korean filmmaker July Jung is the story of a spy's adventures; La Tresse, a film by Laetitia Colomban about three women from different countries and have no connection but have something in common;

A Letter From Kyoto is also from South Korea, directed by Minju Kim. It is the story of a letter from Japan that digs up a family's hidden past and secrets. Also featured at the festival was Tiger Stripes, by Malyasia's Amanda Nell Eu, about a 12-year-old girl's experience with puberty. 

Why Female Gaze Is Important 

The female gaze, for the unversed, refers to the representation and portrayal of women in media and art by women. It is counter to the notorious 'male gaze', which women often find deficient in being realistic. The male gaze, which was first noticed by film theorist Laura Mulvey in the 1970s, is the presentation of women from a heterosexual male viewpoint.

In the male gaze, even when a scene or an art piece does not call for sexual attention, the female characters are presented to satiate male desires, laced with objectification. Moreover, the male gaze often depicts women in a two-dimensional way, without being able to visualise the psyche of the character.

Thus, the female gaze is a game-changer to challenge the restrictive vision through which women are seen. The female gaze represents how women see themselves and brings that to light in the media, emphasising the creative agency of women. Even when exploring the theme of eroticism, the female gaze has a unique way of portraying sex and desire without objectifying women for men to thirst over.

An example of the contrast between the male gaze and the female gaze is clear in Lust Stories 2. Konkana Sen Sharma's vision for The Mirror plays out as a rustic portrayal of sex and female sexual desire, which she said in some interviews, was not intended to make the viewer feel aroused, but rather to just cinematically depict the prosaic act. 

Au contraire, Sujoy Ghosh's Sex With The Ex in the same film franchise (Lust Stories) hypersexualises the female character even outside the sex scene. The sex scene moreover, spotlights the woman being vulnerable during the act as the man takes control. In the male gaze, although both heterosexual adults are shown consenting to sex, women are usually seen as submissive before men. Even in scenes where women are shown pleasuring themselves, it is made to provoke men.

So Much For Nomenclature

Some artists have found the term 'female gaze' restrictive, even as mentioned in the IFFK. Many filmmakers believe that the director's vision has nothing to do with gender, and both male, female, or any people of any other identity can make films that cater to what the female gaze means.

Filmmaker Shruthi Sharanyam made an observation at the IFFK stating that even male directors can have the "female" gaze, giving the example of Thadavu directed by Fazil Razak. She clarified that the term 'Female Gaze' does not fit the intention of the IFFK's category to represent women artists. Indeed, the responsibility of accurately representing women should not be solely restricted to female filmmakers. 

Recently, actress Natalie Portman had a similar stance, stating that the female gaze suggests that women cannot compete on a wider stage. "To say that a female director has a particular gaze is reductive of women’s individuality and points of view... Female directors should have the same opportunities as their male counterparts. But the experience of working with a director has to do with the individual and it doesn’t relate to gender,” she said.

Whether the term 'female gaze' relates to gender or not, the idea of what it encompasses is much required for the nuanced and realistic portrayal of women in media. In today's evolving media landscape, there's a growing recognition of the importance of diverse perspectives, and the female gaze contributes significantly to this shift. It portrays women as real people, with good, bad, and ugly emotions, and challenges stereotypes and promotes a comprehensive understanding of the human experience.

Views expressed by the author are their own