Project Aims
This project centres on the intersection between video online distribution (VOD) and the representation of South Asian identities. It brings together an interdisciplinary group of scholars, filmmakers and programmers from Britain, Europe and across South Asia.
By bringing together filmmakers from different South Asian countries and scholars, and combining theoretical approaches with the experience of creative industry professionals, this network will enable research that explores how VODs' operation (distribution, commissioning and production) is shaping ideas of South Asian identity and regional relations. It will be the first network to research VODs' operation from this methodological and geographic perspective.
Research background
Professor Valentina Vitali, film historian and Professor in Digital Arts at 探花直播, has been exploring聽Pakistani and Indian TV series directed by or about women.
There has been a surge of women-centred content in South Asia, both series and films, which circulate globally through streaming platforms. The quality of this content is very high.
After examining a wide range of series, Professor Vitali concludes that, 鈥渕any Indian and Pakistani series available on streaming platforms focus on women as they do 鈥榚xtraordinary鈥� things. We see women police officers and detectives, high profile journalists, riding a motorbike, or training in boxing and martial arts.鈥�
鈥淏ut as the camera tends to focus on the women as they do these 鈥榚xtraordinary鈥� things, it often cannot simultaneously convey the women鈥檚 point of view. The priority remains showing the women rather than showing viewers things through the women鈥檚 eyes. In other words, we are still confronted with what film theorist Laura Mulvey famously called women鈥檚 鈥榯o-be-looked-at-ness鈥�.鈥�
鈥淭his is not unique to Indian or Pakistani series and films. Mulvey first wrote about this in the 1970s, but 鈥榯o-be-looked-at-ness鈥� remains the default mode for women in mainstream cinema all over the world.鈥�
One of the exceptions is聽Qatil Haseenaon ke Naam / Ode to Femmes Fatales, a series by Meenu Gaur and Farjad Nabi, set in Lahore, Pakistan. The story focuses on women who have been wronged, marginalised, and forgotten, and who decide to seek revenge. It is a very interesting Indo-Pakistani 鈥榥oir鈥�, a genre rarely given to a woman filmmaker to direct in any film industry.
Professor Vitali says: 鈥淲ith this transformative piece of filmmaking, Meenu Gaur proves it鈥檚 not only possible to find producers willing to finance content portraying women鈥檚 point of view. She shows that a women-centred perspective can be empowering, funny, captivating, and binge-worthy.鈥�
Professor Vitali advises film enthusiasts to exercise their power of choice as viewers. 鈥淲e have a responsibility to find platforms that show content embracing and foregrounding women鈥檚 perspectives. We must not allow algorithms to decide for us and feed us more of the same.鈥�
鈥淪mall platforms can鈥檛 compete with the advertising might and algorithmic leverage of global corporate players like Amazon Prime or Netflix. It鈥檚 up to us to decide where to invest our time.鈥�
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This research is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council聽