DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

Vinay Giridhar

Emergence: Out of the Shadows can help you understand the lived experiences and unique challenges faced by gay and lesbian members of the South Asian community in Metro Vancouver.

I learned that society tends to alienate, marginalize and even fetishize people of colour, especially members of the LGBTQ community.

What makes Emergence: Out of the Shadows different is the fact that the film provides a rare insight and voice for the parents of gay and lesbian South Asians. The parents address how “coming out” is not only life-changing for their children but also life-altering for the parents who are left with broken dreams and unanswered questions.

The film acknowledges the important and extraordinary courage of both the parents and their children in their willingness to fight the traditions and taboos of society. This includes the “shame” they feel in coming out and their very real and heartbreaking fear of rejection by their close-knit friends, family members and community.

The film focuses on the rights of these individuals to live an open and respectable life despite traditional and often strict family values and socio-cultural pressures.

The parents and their children describe their struggles to understand and “emerge” together to embrace, love, and support each other, and reach a higher level of critical awareness and compassion.