KISS THE MOON (CHAN DI CHUMMI)

"I wish I could marry, I wish I could give birth to someone’s child." These regrets are common among Khusras - male-to-female transgender people - in Pakistan. Neither men nor women, Khusras have a unique traditional and spiritual role, very much like Hijras in Indian society, and many people believe in their power to bless or curse others. Director Khalid Gill introduces us to the tightly-knit Khusra society of Lahore, which is organised into households with "mothers" and "gurus", as the older and more experienced Khusras are called. In this intimate and discreet portrayal, Aini, Sonya, Boota and others share their dreams and fears, their hopes and frustrations, their longing to love and to be loved, and their desire for a sex change operation. While Sonya yearns for romantic love and her ex-lover who left her to get married, Aini overcomes societal constraints and earns her living by selling goods on the market street – not her body - proudly ignoring the contemptuous taunts of male passers-by.