Filmmaker Lipika Singh Darai’s latest documentary B and S, which she presented during its world premiere at this year’s International Film Festival Rotterdam, explores the deep connection between two trans women named Biraja and Saesha. Their connection, stemming from shared experiences and mutual understanding, serves as a sanctuary in a world that often rejects them. The film tells its story through the lens of Lipika's personal reflections and imaginary conversations with her late grand aunt. This intimate approach continues the filmmaker's "Letters to My Late Grand Aunt" series, rooted in her own experiences. In an exclusive conversation with CE, Lipika, who transitioned from a sound professional to a filmmaker, says that her childhood in Odisha with her grand aunt played a key role in shaping her worldview and her connection with nature, an integral part of her filmography. “Every film of mine highlights the connection,” she observes, citing Waterfall, a film she made for schoolchildren that talks about a dying waterfall, as a notable example.
Besides Lipika, Biraja and Saesha are also the writers of B and S. Biraja is one of Lipika's close friends, and the filmmaker has seen her journey with Saesha from up close and helped her navigate a society that is not accepting of the transgender community. This made it easier for her to ensure the authentic representation of their voices and experiences in the film.
In 2025, Lipika's film featured in the non-competition ‘Shorts and Mid-Length’ category at the Rotterdam film festival. This marks Lipika's second appearance at the festival. Her previous film, Night and Fear, competed in the Tiger Short Competition. Lipika initially preferred focusing on improving herself as a filmmaker to chasing awards and recognition through festivals. “Navigating festivals is challenging. My producers typically handle submissions, but Night and Fear was so personal that I sent it to several European festivals myself, which is how it ended up at Rotterdam,” she explains.
“My experience at IFFR is different from festivals in India. It is a place that nurtures a community of filmmakers who push the boundaries, so to speak. It has the prestigious Hubert Bals grant, which I received for my upcoming debut fiction feature film Birdwoman. Many eminent filmmakers have received it,” Lipika points out, citing director Payal Kapadia of All We Imagine As Light as an example. She goes on to add, “If the festival selects your film, you can go through mentoring sessions and discussions where you will have inputs about it. Moreover, the programmers at the festival will follow up with your work, and you can connect with many other filmmakers.”
An FTII (Film and Television Institute of India) alumnus and a winner of four National Awards, Lipika says that she faced multiple challenges as a female filmmaker hailing from Odisha, partly owing to a lack of state funding. When Lipika moved to Bhubaneswar in 2013 to make films in Odia, she found a near-total absence of a parallel cinema in Odisha, especially among women. Even today, she notes, the situation remains largely unchanged. “I was one of the first women to make documentary films continuously in Odisha. It was big news here when my debut film A Tree a Man a Sea won a National Award. It helped me position myself as a filmmaker and build a profile but not with finding producers or funding for my independent films.” She reveals that the situation was the same when she won a National Award for her work as a sound recordist in a short film titled Gaarud. “When I got the National Award for Sound and was pitching for direction, it did not help. Because people in India are very particular about who can do what. People think that if you have studied Sound, you cannot direct. If you are a director, you cannot edit,” reveals Lipika. She then admits, “Documentary and short filmmakers face prejudice, with pressure to graduate to feature films and commercial releases before being considered truly successful. Some of my films have been studied at universities, but people would still say that I'm not there yet.”
Lipika explains that this mindset also reflects on the lack of government support for filmmakers in Odisha. “State funding remains absent, and the Odisha Film Development Corporation's allocation of funds is unclear. I have been thinking about filing an RTI to understand what is happening, but such activism needs a lot of time and effort. Right now, I am so busy with my work, and it is not easy to make a film and present it.”