Poorva Bhat’s documentary makes awkward conversations easier

Discussions, debates, instructional videos by police, schools and NGOs, shorts, animation films, ‘how to’ manuals/articles — there’s a lot of content available on ‘safe and unsafe touch’. “Parents, teachers, other stakeholders — everyone is aware about it and the need to tell children. What’s missing is actual conversations with kids. Sure, we tell them, but do we listen to them? Are we comfortable having these conversations with them? Most importantly, are children comfortable or willing participants in such discussions?” asks filmmaker Poorva Bhat, whose short documentary on this topic premiered at Dharamshala International Film Festival.

Interestingly titled, ‘What’s the Film About?’ is based on conversation about safe and unsafe touch between a mother and her two children. The film, which had its world premiere at Visions Du Reel (Visions of the Real), an international documentary film festival at Nyon, Switzerland, wasn’t a planned film, says Poorva, who is also a film editor. “I have been working on a feature documentary on child sexual abuse for more than three years. The subject would crop up in daily conversations with my team, over phone calls. So, as a mother, I wanted my two children, a son (11) and a daughter (9), to know about it,” says the filmmaker, who was a banker, a translator and an author before she found her calling.

Talking about safe and unsafe touch was the basic foundation before she could approach the topic of abuse with her children. “But I realised that despite my notions about me being a cool mom, it was very difficult to have these conversations. I felt very awkward.” That’s when the filmmaker in her realised that this could be a film by itself.

Working on her documentary, she knew from experience that such conversations on personal safety were difficult and awkward because these bring out fear, insecurity and trauma in children and parents/caregivers alike. As a mother, she was absolutely clear that the children will have full agency.

Despite the challenges, her conviction has paid off. ‘WTFA’, her first independent film, has been invited for screening at the prestigious International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), world’s largest documentary film festival, being held from November 14 to November 24.

As a filmmaker, Poorva is very passionate about “owning the narrative”. “I like telling urban stories from India because urban India doesn’t get showcased enough in the western world. Most Indian documentaries focus on third-world struggles,” says the storyteller, whose film was accepted at the IDFA for precisely this reason.

“People in the West are used to westerners talking about issues like sexuality. A programmer at IDFA said a film on such a topic from India is what excited them in the first place. It was a fresh perspective because somebody from the third world was talking in their language, something that doesn’t happen very often,” says Poorva, whose earlier documentaries have been on sex workers, drug users, high-risk groups battling AIDS. The issues may be serious but her objective has always been to address sensitive topics in a manner that doesn’t overwhelm audiences, but allows them to introspect.

Poorva hopes that ‘WTFA’ becomes a conversation starter about making awkward conversations easier and reminds families, parents, educational institutions to keep these conversations going. But above all, she hopes her film is able to create a space of trust and love for children that gives them more agency to ask questions and express emotions.