Rohena Gera is a director and screenwriter. Her micro-budget documentary “What’s Love Got To Do With It?” screened at the Mumbai Film Festival. “Sir” is her narrative feature debut.

“Sir” will premiere at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival on May 14.

W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.

RG: It’s the story of two contrasting worlds that coexist in a single apartment in Mumbai. As they brush up against each other and the invisible barriers between them become increasingly porous, the unwritten rules of this society are thrown into question.

W&H: What drew you to this story?

RG: I’ve struggled with this issue for most of my life, from when I was a young child with a live-in nanny. I was uncomfortable with this from a young age. The drastic inequalities are very hard to understand — especially when they are within your home.

Years later, when I’d return to India from university in the U.S, I would see — from the outside — the inequities in our way of living. But I didn’t have a story to express it in a way that wasn’t preachy or self-righteous.

This story came with maturity — and with an understanding of how we allow ourselves to love whom we love, and the prejudices built into our way of seeing.

W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?

RG: I think I would like people to think about possibility, and about the possibility of change. One can change one’s own life, but one can also change one’s relationships simply by seeing people differently — seeing them for who they are, not what they represent.

We all have prejudices, and sometimes internalized ones that turn against us. I think it’s important to stop and notice what’s going on.

W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?

RG: I would say putting the project together, not just financially but finding all the key collaborators. Because I came in from the outside in a way, I wasn’t doing this by the rules.

W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.

RG: In India, films have to “make sense” financially. Today one can make a tiny budget film without stars that costs under 200-250K EU [about 240-300K USD) or a big budget film with stars, and either of these can be viable to a producer. My film lay outside the 250K budget, but it is not a film I wanted to make with a star. People did advise me to pitch to get a Hindi film star as the female lead, but I didn’t think that would be convincing onscreen, and I didn’t want to chase an actor for the wrong reasons.

So I ended up going to non-film investors, including my family, and we got them to take a huge risk on the film. The budget was still very tight, but I had a lot of freedom to cast it the way I wanted.

My husband Brice Poisson had worked with me on my documentary, and he agreed to come on board to produce it, and we just went for it. Our priorities for the film were the same, so while neither of us took a salary, we got the very best technicians we could, many of whom also took a pay cut on the film.

Once I got Dominique Colin, my French Director of Photography on board, things started to gain some momentum. Then a producer friend, Ashish Bhatnagar, who I had worked for as a writer, helped to get Rakesh Mehra on as an executive producer/line producer and the project started to become real.

W&H: What does it mean for you to have your film play at Cannes?

RG: I feel extremely lucky, and honored that my film has been selected for Critics’ Week. It is a validation of years of swimming upstream to have a committee headed by Charles Tesson believe in my film, and to believe it belongs in their selection of seven.

I am also extremely hopeful that as a result of this selection the story will be heard — that’s what is really important to me. [I want people to know about it] outside of India but also in India.

W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?

RG: Best advice: To ensure that I am the only person whose first film it is. Ashutosh Gowariker gave me that advice many years ago, and it stuck. My department heads were all extremely experienced, from the DP to Editor Jacques Comets, the sound team, Production Designer Parul Sondh. It’s all these collaborations that made the film much stronger.

Worst advice: To dumb myself down for the audience. The audience, I believe, is always two or more steps ahead.

W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?

RG: Hang in there. Take your time to understand the rules of the game first, but then go ahead and do things your way. You don’t have to wait for someone to allow you access. Cobble your project together and prove yourself. And try not to internalize the world’s prejudices. There is a way in which sometimes, even the most privileged and progressive amongst us sell ourselves short with regressive internalized gender roles. 

I found it useful at times in life to stop myself and rethink a situation asking myself: What would I do if I was a man? Just to check myself, to see if I was allowing gender to play into my decision-making.

W&H: Name your favourite woman-directed film and why.

RG: Right now I like Kathryn Bigelow’s work a lot, especially “Detroit.” She has something important to say, and she brings that to us with a raw immediacy that is unforgettable. I also love that her choices seem independent of her gender.

I also loved “Fish Tank” by Andrea Arnold, which felt so close and honest.

W&H: Hollywood and the global film industry are in the midst of undergoing a major transformation. Many women — and some men — in the industry are speaking publicly about their experiences being assaulted and harassed. What are your thoughts on the #TimesUp movement and the push for equality in the film business?

RG: So much has been said about the harassment that women face, but unfortunately in India it is still difficult for women to come out and speak about it for fear of a backlash. Sometimes harassment is subtle, and as a woman you’re not sure what to do or whether this behavior is “sufficiently inappropriate” for you to say something. So you shrug it off or laugh it off but that doesn’t make it go away. It’s quite the contrary. There is a way the situation gets framed sometimes that makes the woman seem crazy for calling someone out, especially if she does it early enough that it’s not flagrant.