Presented by A City Seen/ House of Spice

Sita and Radha are two young women abandoned by their husbands, who find intimacy and passion in each other in this erotic romantic drama. The first of Deepa Mehta’s celebrated ‘Elements’ trilogy, Fire was the first mainstream Bollywood film to explicitly depict homosexual relations in a culture adamantly denying such a love could ever exist and was banned in India as a result. Fire is loosely based on “Lihaaf” (“The Quilt”) written by Ismat Chughta who famously refused to apologise when her short story found itself the subject of an obscenity trial in India following its publication in 1942.

Introducing Fire is the Lucky Roy Singh (House Mother) of House of Spice, a new collective of South Asian and Middle Eastern diasporic creatives.

This event is a real celebration of all that is South Asian and Queer with some of Manchester’s finest performers. The discussion will be hosted by Lucky Roy Singh (House Mother) and Jazzy Spice/BollyButch and includes Huss, Bengum Spice and Saffy Saffron Spice, along with the opportunity to hear from Manchester’s coolest new creative Houses. This will be followed by live performances by Lucky Roy Singh and more!

Finally, join House of Spice downstairs in the café bar and enjoy their curated playlist!

Screening as part of Queerious, exploring a multitude of desires on screen in ways we all too rarely see in cinema. Queerious is part of Film Feels Curious, a UK-wide cinema season, supported by the National Lottery and BFI Film Audience Network. Explore all films and events at filmfeels.co.uk.