People tried to molest me too: Ukrainian Director

Dharamsala : As the #MeToo movement is gaining momentum in India, Ukrainian filmmaker Dar Gai came out in support of it and revealed that she too had been a victim of it.

"People have tried to molest me couple of times. Once I managed to escape from almost getting raped and I have often dealt with weird guys from the industry who does not know how to speak to women," Gai told IANS here on the sidelines of the ongoing Dharamshala International Film Festival (DIFF).

But for Gai, it took her years to realise that whatever she had gone through was "not normal".

"Last year I was at a film festival in India and we had a panel of female filmmakers. We were discussing about the issues of women directors and all of them were sharing their terrible experiences of dishonesty and disrespect, which they have faced from their fellow filmmakers.

"At that time, when I looked at my past and recalled the incidents which I used to find normal till then, I realised there was something wrong with me and something wrong with the entire industry," the director said.

Gai blamed the industry for "making her get used to the idea that it was fine to be mistreated and disrespected".

While talking further about sexual harassment cases, she compared the #MeToo movement with wars and revolutions.

"The movement is no less than a war. No doubt, there will be debates, there will be misusage but during a war, a lot of innocent people also get killed. So now, it is a stage one, people have to sacrifice to achieve the next stage of life, " she added.

Gai was at DIFF for the screening of her feature titled "Namdev Bhau: In Search Of Silence".

(Simran Sethi is in Dharamsala on an invitation by the Dharamshala International Film Festival. She can be contacted at simran.s@ians.in)