Jote/ Itanagar, Aug 26: As part of the Orientation Week for the second batch at FTII Itanagar, the Gender Awareness Committee organised a session on gender sensitisation with Sawang Wangchha, LGBTQ+ activist and founder of AP QueerStation, and Liyom of AP QueerStation.
Sawang Wangchha is the founder of AP QueerStation, an active LGBTQIA+ collective in Arunachal Pradesh. Along with Liyom, he facilitated a conversation that brought together questions of gender, sexuality, identity, lived experiences, and their representation in cinema.
The session began with a discussion on films and the representations students had encountered as audiences. Rather than approaching representation simply as a question of whether certain identities are visible on screen, the conversation explored how people are represented, the kinds of narratives through which they are understood, and the assumptions that often accompany such portrayals.
This led to a discussion on the LGBTQIA+ acronym and the diverse identities and experiences it encompasses. At the same time, the facilitators situated the conversation within the context of Arunachal Pradesh and its many communities, highlighting that understandings of gender and identity do not emerge from a single cultural framework.
The discussion also touched upon identities and social spaces within the tribal communities of Arunachal Pradesh, including Mumbar, Mumbal, and others, opening up a broader conversation about how local histories, cultures, and social structures may offer their own ways of understanding identity. 
For students beginning their journey at FTII Itanagar, this context was particularly relevant. Wangchha encouraged the students to travel, observe, and engage with different communities across Arunachal Pradesh. The emphasis was not on viewing communities merely as subjects waiting to be represented, but on the importance of spending time with people, listening to their experiences, and understanding the contexts from which stories emerge.
Liyom shared her lived experience as a trans woman, bringing a personal and immediate dimension to the conversation. Her experiences opened up discussions around trans identities, the challenges faced by transgender people, and everyday realities that are often overlooked when these identities are discussed only in abstract terms. Students engaged with these questions through an interactive Q&A, creating space for curiosity, clarification, and dialogue.
The conversation also turned to cinema and the long-standing stereotypes associated with queer characters, particularly within the Hindi film industry. Over the years, LGBTQIA+ characters have often been portrayed through familiar tropes that reduce them to objects of ridicule, comic relief, tragedy, spectacle, or convenient narrative devices. The session encouraged students to critically examine these patterns and reflect on the responsibility they will carry as future filmmakers in shaping stories, characters, and visual representations.
Wangchha reminded the film students that they have the creative power to tell authentic and diverse stories and to move beyond conventional representations. He emphasised that inclusive storytelling should not be limited to sexual and gender minorities, but should also create space for the lived experiences and stories of Indigenous communities of Arunachal Pradesh and other underrepresented communities across India.
The discussion highlighted the importance of authentic and inclusive representation in a culturally, socially, and linguistically diverse country like India. Students were encouraged to consider cinema not only as a medium of storytelling, but also as a means of bringing lesser-heard voices, histories, and experiences to wider audiences.
A central concern throughout the session was the importance of avoiding generalisations. Representation cannot be approached through assumptions, and no community can be understood through a single experience or identity. Students were encouraged to research, engage with people and contexts, and remain conscious of the difference between genuinely representing a community and merely reproducing existing ideas about it.

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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