FLYING WITH ONE WING

Asoka Handagama, Sri Lanka 2001, 87 min, feature, in Singhalese with English subtitles
An unusual film to emerge from the young Sri Lankan film industry. Manju, a Butch/FTM, works as a mechanic and is married to a woman, while concealing his/her secret identity. One day after an accident, Manju's secret is exposed to a doctor who decides to blackmail him/her in return for sexual favours.

A disturbing image of contemporary Sri Lanka where women are the under class, suffering under the weight of tradition and male desire. In the midst of this conformity is an edgy story of gender transgression. Manju is a boyish car mechanic who holds his own in the male world of the garage. After work he returns home to his young wife Kusum. They are happy together but Manju conceals a secret identity from his co-workers and neighbourhood: he was born a woman. One day after an accident, Manju's secret is exposed to a doctor who becomes obsessed with him. Unable to have him, the doctor reveals Manju's secret to his chauvinist boss, setting in motion a chain of events that reveal a community marked by homophobia and sexism. The film almost didn't get a chance to be seen in Sri Lanka: the censor board wouldn't allow the film to be released domestically unless the director cut seven key scenes, which he categorically refused to do. Only after a huge outcry by the country's intelligentsia was the ban finally lifted.



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