In 2007, Nepal first officially created the third gender, a separate identity for transgender individuals or those who do not identify as a woman or man. However, laws do not yet include protections for these people. I Am Not What You See reveals how the gender minority in Nepal still experiences deep discrimination and injustice by family, society and the State. This compelling short documentary investigates the urgent need for long-term governmental policies and programs that protect the human rights and welfare of a gender minority.

As Nepal is in the process of writing their new constitution, gay and third gender people fight for equality and inclusion in laws. Other Nature is an eye-opening documentary where determined activists speak up: the first openly gay politician explains that the third gender, traditionally known as “other nature,” has existed since the time of Hindu epics such as Ramayana; a transmasculine third gender makes a journey to the sacred Muktinath Temple to pray for equal rights; a transfeminine third gender demands the right to citizenship and to vote not as female or male, but as third gender; a gay soldier talks about imprisonment under torturous conditions for 60 days and being kicked out of the army.

A debut feature by a Nepalese-born recipient of the San Francisco Film Society residency, Other Nature, with glimpses of life in the streets of Kathmandu, is a plea for the voice of the oppressed to be heard. — NANI RATNAWATI