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.

With an introduction from Birds Eye View’s Xuanlin Tham.

The screening will be followed by a spoken word performance and informal writing workshop delivered open to all ticket holders. Bee Asha (she/her) is a spoken word artist and co-founder of Spit It Out. Spit It Out (SCIO) is an award winning organisation aiming to build connections and provide a platform for discussions around trauma and healing through creativity. Bee Asha grew up between the homes of her Punjabi father and Scottish mother. She is one third of the hip hop trio, The Honey Farm, a Scottish female rap group that promote female confidence and egalitarian views. Bee is also a solo spoken word artist, whose work often tackles social injustice and gender equality, characterised by an openness to talk about her own personal experiences with using creativity to heal from trauma.

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.