Escaping Agra

Available Summary:

"In Escaping Agra we meet Naveen Bhat, a non-binary UC Davis college student held against their will in India when their gender identity is discovered. Naveen must battle their parents in court and piece their life back together, in this short documentary about self-discovery and perseverance." -Frameline.

Jack's Summary:

In this short documentary, Naveen Bhat talks about their journey and hardships. As a non-binary teenager, they were illegally detained by their abusive parents in India, but fled with the assistance of their partner, their partner's family, and Indian LGBT+ activists. They talk about the physical and emotional abuse meted out by their parents, and particularly by their mother, so this documentary is clearly confronting. But it's also very sweet, with Madi (Naveen's partner) and Madi's parents sheltering Naveen in the USA. It's clear that Madi's parents don't entirely understand Naveen's non-binary identity, but they hug Naveen and insist on protecting them regardless.

Justice Vikramajit Sen, of the Supreme Court of India, speaks firmly and positively about the human rights of trans people, which I very much enjoyed.

Rituparna Borah, a queer feminist activist in New Delhi, refers to Naveen with he/him/his pronouns while discussing evacuating Naveen from India. In this 2015 article, and in other sources, Naveen identifies themself with he/him/his, so it is possible that Borah is not intentionally misgendering them, but rather, does not know that their pronouns are different nowadays.

In a touching moment, Naveen reacts with a delighted smile when they receive their first testosterone shot. Their partner is sitting next to them, a hand on their shoulder, supporting them while the nurse explains how a testosterone injection works. Overall, this is a very important and touching short film.

This film was previously available on Vimeo, but has been taken down since I watched it there.