On July 9th, seven hotpot!-ers and friends went to see I Am, a documentary film by Sonali Gulati at Philadelphia QFest.
The documentary tells us about her struggle in coming to terms with the fact that she hadn’t come out to her mother as a lesbian before her passing. Compelled by this need, she interviewed other queer Indians and their parents, and asks parents this pressing question, “would it be better if they didn’t know about their children’s sexuality and what are their thoughts about it?”
Another focus of the documentary was the LGBTQ rights movement in India and the involvement of some of the people she interviewed. Being gay was a criminal and punishable offense until, these activists refused to hide in the shadows and live in fear, instead they spear headed the movement to repeal the portion of section 377, a law in the Indian’s Penal Code, that outlawed same sex sexual activity. They were victorious in July 2009.
I Am is the director’s journey of getting her questions answered through strong individuals stories, families, and the change within herself and the families when some of the parents did a complete turnaround and truly support their children now.
hotpot! Philly 
This was a moving film and now hotpot! owns it. We hope to have our own screening for those who missed it soon.