Rewriting the Script, 14 years later

45-minute film was a labour of love and an act of desperation that is still relevant in South Asian LGBTQ community today

They called themselves Friday Night Productions, embracing the nickname their partners had jokingly given them when they started spending every Friday night in 1998 working on their video, Rewriting the Script: A Love Letter to Our Families.

The six amateur filmmakers identified as South Asian and queer. Their project was radical for its time: It was a resource for families to come to terms with coming out, which is easier to do in some cultures than others. Back then, the Internet was far less advanced than it is now, and there was little easily accessible support for queer South Asians.

The project was both a labour of love and an act of desperation. None of the people behind the lens had any movie-making experience.

“The technology in1998 to1999 was nowhere near what it is today,” says Deena Ladd, one of the producers. “It was really hard trying to get support to make a film. We learned as we went along.”

It also wasn’t easy to find South Asian families who had embraced a queer loved one and were willing to face the camera.

“We really wanted to show a positive experience — show strategies for family to accept their child for who they are,” Ladd says. “But people were nervous about going on camera and talking publicly.”

And then there was the challenge of getting funding.

When the group was put forward for a $2,500 grant from city council, then councillors Doug Holyday and Rob Ford opposed the idea — and the story wound up on the front page of a newspaper.

“We were nervous that this would lead to even more homophobia and racism, but it actually raised awareness for the video,” says Ladd.

The video eventually did get made, although it took the team nearly three years to release the project on VHS. Fourteen years later, the 45minute documentary is still considered a vital resource in the South Asian community. The full video can be seen on You Tube.

We recently talked to with three of the producers, an interviewee and Rahim Thawer, who found the video so relevant to his life, he worked with the collective to get it on YouTube. We asked them how the climate surrounding queer issues in the South Asian community has changed.