Onir’s film Pine Cone is getting screened at the British Film Institute Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival, and the filmmaker is elated. “I just hope this creates interest back home because ultimately it makes my country, my people, our communities proud,” says the 54-year-old, adding that tickets for day one of the two-day screening of the film, got sold out soon after the sale opened.

A semi-autobiographical film about a filmmaker exploring his journey over two decades and his growing cynicism about love amid the changing landscape of queer rights in India, Pine Cone has made waves on the international film festival circuit.

Onir adds that even if people think queer films have a limited audience, his job is to tell new stories. “Then it’s the job of distributors, exhibitors and platforms to figure out how it reaches out. Sometimes it’s a little exhausting, trying to negotiate. Making it is a joy, but finding a theatre, especially in India, is always traumatic. Sometimes, I feel, I can make a film for the amount of money people spend buying candles and curtains!”

A pioneering voice in queer cinema in India, Onir looks back on how his 2005 film My Brother… Nikhil was questioned for being ahead of its time, adding that even Pine Cone is being called one. “In India, people are still taking baby steps. And my life, our queer life is not baby steps. Just like me as an audience, as a gay man, can watch any film, even those who aren’t queer should be able to watch Pine Cone for its story, the beauty and journey of people,” he signs off.