When trans non-binary filmmaker Harshappi Harsh (they/them) arrived at the 18th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK) as a guest filmmaker, they expected to screen their film, meet fellow filmmakers, and spend time with friends. Instead, they said they spent much of the festival correcting people who repeatedly misgendered them, looking for a toilet they could comfortably use, and raising concerns about a lack of inclusivity at the festival.
Harshappi, a transmasculine non-binary photographer, filmmaker, and community organiser from Thiruvananthapuram, had their 20-minute documentary To Stitch Together a Watermelon Heart selected for the short documentary competition at the festival. The film, which is based on Harshappi’s own experiences, explores their journey as a trans non-binary person and questions the erasure of trans and queer experiences.
But Harshappi’s own experience at the festival left them feeling repeatedly erased. “I came here with my film to enjoy some time with my friends and showcase my work. I did not come here to advocate for basic rights,” Harshappi told TNM.
According to Harshappi, the problems began from the day they arrived. Despite informing the organisers that they were a transmasculine non-binary person, they were repeatedly misgendered by festival officials and others. They said they corrected people several times. “This is something very basic. They could have just called me by my name,” Harshappi said.
The repeated misgendering was not limited to informal interactions, the filmmaker said. Their name and gender were also allegedly incorrectly represented during official festival proceedings.
The official IDSFFK website describes Harshappi as a trans non-binary person. In a promotional video released on September 29 about their film, Harshappi said they were identified correctly as a transmasculine person. But when they checked the video the following morning, they found that they had been misgendered in the caption and that the video’s title feminised their identity.
Their friends had to repeatedly comment on the festival's social media post before the organisers corrected it, Harshappi said, adding that the festival team did not apologise to them for the error.
The incident was particularly distressing because it happened shortly before Harshappi was scheduled to participate in a stage event. “I was completely shattered. I was almost crying while sitting on stage,” they said.
For Harshappi, the issue was not an isolated social-media mistake. It was part of a larger pattern of being forced into a gender binary throughout the festival. One of their biggest concerns was the absence of a gender-neutral toilet at the festival venues.
Harshappi said the festival had separate toilets marked for men and women, but no gender-neutral facility for trans and non-binary attendees, adding that several trans friends who attended the festival struggled with using the available facilities.
One transmasculine friend, they said, was wearing a skirt throughout the day and was uncomfortable entering the men's toilet alone. The men's toilet at one venue, Harshappi said, also had only one enclosed toilet, with the remaining facilities being urinals. “How do you expect a trans person to use a urinal?” they asked.
Harshappi said they had expected an event of the scale and history of IDSFFK to have included such basic accessibility requirements.
The 18th IDSFFK was organised by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy and held in Thiruvananthapuram from September 25 to 30. The Academy, established by the Kerala government in 1998, organises both IDSFFK and the International Film Festival of Kerala.
Harshappi said they raised the concerns during a festival session, expecting a response from the organisers. Instead, they felt that they were once again being left to explain why such facilities were necessary. At one point, they said, an audience member suggested that people seeking such changes should “g8o to the right spaces”, sign petitions, and approach the High Court.
The experience came against the backdrop of a wider controversy surrounding the 18th IDSFFK this year. The festival had faced a dispute over screening permissions after the Academy said 31 films selected for the festival had not received clearance from the Union government. The Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry later said no film had been denied permission, stating that some films were still under review.
Several filmmakers subsequently announced that they would boycott the festival awards in solidarity with films affected by the screening-clearance dispute. Harshappi was among those who expressed disappointment with the Academy over the issue.
To Stitch Together a Watermelon Heart was screened in the short documentary competition. The film was made through crowdfunding and postcard sales, and features contributions from Harshappi's friends and acquaintances, as well as queer and trans artists.
Harshappi works as the Programme Coordinator and Social Media Coordinator at Sahayatrika for Human Rights, a Kerala-based community organisation that works with trans and queer communities. Sahayatrika has worked with gender and sexual minorities in Kerala for more than two decades.
Harshappi is not asking the festival to construct new infrastructure overnight. Instead, even converting one existing toilet into a gender-neutral facility for the duration of the festival, they argued, would have been a step in the right direction. “Nothing new needs to be built. At least for a few days, one toilet on any floor could have been made gender-neutral,” they said.
What has disappointed them most, however, is what they describe as the absence of a public apology from the festival or the Academy despite raising the issues publicly.
They said that when an international festival invites filmmakers from different backgrounds, inclusivity cannot stop at including a film about marginalised communities. “The film itself is about my journey as a transmasculine non-binary person, including experiences of misgendering,” Harshappi said. “And then the festival itself kept forcing us back into the same binary.”
“I came here with my film,” they said. “I did not come here to keep correcting the festival.”
A source from the organising committee said that the matter was brought to their notice. “A person from the social media team apologised to Harsh for misgendering them. We will be more mindful of this going forward.” They also added that the issue regarding gender-neutral toilets is being discussed in the Kerala Chalachithra Academy.
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