Unlocking Desires review: Intimate portrayal of women’s sexuality and desires

The short documentary Unlocking Desires is an animation film exploring desire, body, sexuality and choices through a feminist lens, from the perspective of adolescent girls and the social workers who work with them.

Made by the Sadbhavana Trust, which works in partnership with other non-governmental organizations, women’s groups and community-based organizations, mainly in the field of women and education; Unlocking Desires takes us into the innermost thoughts and desires of young women as they discuss incidents from everyday life, revealing the myriad ways in which society thwarts their wishes, actively discouraging them from exercising their choice.

Deploying candid conversations which took place among women in workshops, the film explores their simple eagerness to wear Western clothes, feel special, etc. Interestingly, the documentary also examines the predicament of field workers, who are themselves caught within the shackles of a patriarchal society, forced to confront the abyss between their actions and words.

The documentary comes out of the responses of women in the field, their experiences, challenges and ideas of sexuality. While bringing their encounters to the fore, it puts forth the opinions of experts who provide a context for the experiences of the interviewees. In doing so, it dispels the idea that sexuality is only related to the body, opening up the larger realm of the mind and imagination.

The use of animation enables an anonymity which is vital to the subject, but it also makes the viewer focus on the words and experiences being narrated while adding a layer of interpretative imagery on screen.

Unlocking Desires keeps the intimacy of the conversations shared between friends, in a circle of trust. The artwork is vivid and complements the conversations being foregrounded.

A Chambal Media production, the documentary is animated by Suchana Saha.

Unlocking Desires is being screened at Beyond Borders: A Feminist Film Festival on from 3 to 10 December 2021.