Rani, a film featuring Pakistan’s first notable transgender artist and activist, wins an award at the NBC Universal Short Film Festival.
Kami Sid’s breakthrough moment was a shoot done to highlight the need for inclusivity in Pakistan’s fashion industry; photographed by Haseeb Siddiqui, the shoot went viral for its concept and execution. This was when the industry at large took notice of the transgender activist, paving way for many more like her and giving her the opportunity to continue breaking barriers and creating awareness about transgender rights.
It was during this time that Kami was approached for auditions for Rani and bagged the role of the titular character – making it her first acting venture. Kami had previously been part of two well-made documentaries – How Gay is Pakistan and Chuppan Chuppai, where she has appeared as herself, but this was her first acting experience. The film, titled Rani, directed by US-based director Hammad Rizvi and produced by Karachi-based production house GrayScale recently made its way to the NBC Universal Short Film Festival where it got nominated for several awards including ‘Best Actor’ for Kami and ‘Best Writer’, and won the latter.
Instep caught up with Kami, who’s currently in LA promoting the film, to talk about the role.
“I have the lead character of Rani, a young transgender who sells toys for a living. Rani takes in an abandoned baby who she wants to raise as her own, which goes against the norms of society. One sees how many problems Rani faces being a transgender and trying to raise a child. In the end though, there’s a happy ending,” she laughed.
When asked how people there received the film, she said, “We think that Pakistan is far behind but we’re actually doing better in some aspects than Trump’s America. If Trump’s proposal to roll back the transgender ideology established by former President Obama goes through, they will be further behind than us. In trying to narrowly define gender as a biological, immutable condition determined by genitalia at birth, they’ll be where Pakistan was two years ago, until our landmark 2018 bill was passed, which is very inclusive.”
She adds that she’s gotten a lot of appreciation in the States and got approached with some projects in LA. “NBC studios arranged meetings for us with creative agencies who are interested in working with new talent. Netflix also has ongoing projects with Indian and Pakistanis and have offered me a role and I’m in talks with them.”
Kami, who was invited to the festival and screening, said that people here gave me a standing ovation for my performance and I was even nominated for best actress.
“This achievement is special because NBC chose Rani as one of the top six short films from over 3,400 submissions. There were stories about people of ethnically diverse backgrounds, the LGBTQ community and women, and they invited me specially to attend the event because of this.”
The film is set to be screened in Pakistan in 2019.
