Genre
Synopsis
The Practice of Us explores parenting as a continuous act of reinterpretation. The film investigates how memories of otherness and found family inform the intentional, messy processes necessary for intergenerational healing between David, Karthik, their children, and the grandparents.
The project is rooted in the parallel histories of the participants’ youth: Karthik living as a "criminal" under India's Section 377, and David coming out during the AIDS pandemic in conservative Ohio. While marriage equality and Karthik’s naturalization once offered a sense of security, the 2026 landscape—marked by ICE enforcement and rollbacks of DEI and queer protections—has made life for their multiracial family feel as precarious as the worlds they survived as children.
The film also examines the clash of survival mindsets. For David and Karthik, survival meant escaping rejection to build a radical, queer family. For Karthik’s mother, Kala—a Gulf War survivor and pioneering working woman—survival meant a fierce obsession with economic stability. To her, Karthik’s coming out was as destabilizing as the war itself.
As they raise two Black children—including neurodivergent Aliyya—in a society actively erasing Black history, David and Karthik face a "Parenting Catch-22." They must heal their own childhood traumas to give their children a chance at a legacy of belonging. Framed by the ideas of Michel Foucault and Urvashi Vaid, the film asks: Can love for their children become the very catalyst for the collective healing between David, Karthik, and his mother, Kala?
Director Identity
Bio
Chithra Jeyaram [She/Her] is a physical therapist-turned-filmmaker who identifies as Tamil. Her films focus on the wisdom, resilience, and love found within both biological and chosen families. In her films—from initial idea to completion—she handles every phase of production: directing, producing, filming, and editing. She also regularly collaborates with other creators on coproductions, contributing her expertise in directing, producing, and editing to their creative work. She is an alumna of prestigious programs, including Visions du Réel’s RoughCut Lab, the Chicken & (Egg)celerator Lab, the BGDM Artist Fellowship, the Gotham Documentary Fellowship, and the Jerome Foundation grant. Her most recent documentary, LOVE CHAOS KIN, fills a vital gap in mainstream adoption narratives by powerfully highlighting a multicultural and multiracial family in an open adoption, showcasing a vision for a more inclusive and connected America. She is the lead producer of the critically acclaimed short documentary AMMA'S PRIDE (2024), which champions unwavering parental support for trans people and marriage equality. She is currently developing a hybrid documentary centered on queer parenting, while also writing the short script THE SHIFT and her debut feature-length screenplay, The LONGEST SUMMER. Food is her first love, and she is an avid runner who has completed 15 marathons. She calls Chennai and New York City home.
