12th
Edition of Kashish Mumbai International Queer Film Festival commences online
today
The
12th edition of KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film
Festival, South Asia’s biggest LGBBTQIA+ film festival commenced online today,
with a grand opening ceremony at 6.00pm (IST). The ceremony was hosted by TV Talk show host Renil Abraham.
The opening ceremony can be viewed on YouTube & Facebook channels
@kashishfilmfest.
Link https://youtu.be/PyxjWOddirQ
This is the 2nd time the festival has gone online beginning last year because of Covid regulations. There will be 12 days of weekend screenings of films while weekdays will be devoted to panel discussions and filmmaker Q&As. The festival will screen 221 films from 53 countries and is available across India and across the world.
The theme chosen for this year’s festival is #Unlockwithpride, representing the festival’s mission to unlock geographical & racial barriers, and encourage love and acceptance of LGBTQIA+ individuals, and thereby unlock a new normal of hope for everyone, Sridhar said.
Sridhar picks twelve films to watch out for in the festival. Click on their links below to see the synopsis.
Narrative Features –
No Hard Feelings (Germany) – August 19th
No Hard Feelings, the opening film at KASHISH 2021,
is a Berlinale Teddy Award winner that tells a heartwarming story of three
first & second generation Irani immigrants in Germany, peppered with a cute
gay love story. Available only to
audiences in India
Another Self (Iran) – August 22nd
Coming from a country like Iran, this evocative film Another Self tells the story of a
transgender persons’ journey standing up against her family and society.
Advent of Mary (Brazil) – August 27th
Advent of Mary is a beautiful story from Brazil of
a young trans girl’s struggles to come to terms with her sexuality, amidst a
conservative family and the Catholic church. The young girl is played by a real-life
transgender girl. Viva Inclusion! This film is in competition too for best
feature as well as best performance in a lead role.
The Lawyer (Lithuania) – August 28th
A beautifully sensitive film from Lithuania, The Lawyer (Advokatas) is about a lawyer’s romance with a Syrian refugee
who he meets through a sex-cam chat. The film also stars a real-life transman
as one of the important character. This film is playing as Narrative
Centerpiece. Available only to audiences
in India
Love Spells & All That (Turkey) – September 4th
Lovely locations in Turkey, beautiful cinematography and brilliant
performances enhance the enchanting quality of this film Love, Spells & All That about two women who were in love
and meet after several years.
Unsound (Australia) – September 5th
Unsound, from Australia, is the perfect
Closing Film since it is youth focused, about the next generation and has a real-life
hearing-impaired person playing the lead role of a deaf transman in love with a
singer. Available only to audiences in India
Documentary Features –
A Worm in the Heart (Russia) – August 20th
In the film A Worm from The Heart,
the filmmakers, a gay couple from UK, travel to Russia to speak to the LGBTQIA+
activists there to find out the challenges the community faces. A very brave
film, which is an eye opener. The film is in competition.
Canela (Argentina) – August 22nd
A heartwarming documentary from Brazil, Canela is about a middle-aged transgender woman planning to go
through her gender reassignment surgery, and how she navigates her
relationships with her colleagues, friends and more importantly her wife, two
sons & the family. The film is in competition.
Prince of Dreams (Sweden) – August 26th
Prince of Dreams is a languid observational
documentary, filmed over 10 years, beginning when Erik, a transman, was only
17, tracing his struggles through his gender dysphoria and his love for
Martyna, which makes him set out on a journey to question what makes a person a
real man. This film is in competition.
Rebel Dykes (UK) – August 27th
Rebel Dyke is a funky out-&-proud
documentary that is a heady mash-up of animation, archive footage and
interviews with LBT+ artists, performers, musicians, and activists in London.
Waves the flag high up for lesbian, bisexual, trans & queer visibility.
This film is in competition.
Always Amber (Sweden) – August 27th
Absolutely contemporary, Always
Amber speaks and shows the youth of today who are not afraid to own up to
their gender and sexuality. Amber, a gender non-confirming person and their
best friend Sebastian, two queer youth in Sweden, share everything from dreams
and parties to new friendships. Available
only to audiences in India
Admitted (India) –
September 4th
Admitted is an eye-opener of a documentary from India about the most
amazing transgender activist Dhananjay Chauhan. It is a life sketch of this
powerhouse of a transwoman who was the first transgender student of Panjab
University.
Information about all the films, as well as schedule and information on how to register, is available on the festival website http://mumbaiqueerfest.com
http://kashishmiqff.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Kashish.MIQFF | Twitter: http://twitter.com/KashishMIQFF
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/KASHISHfilmfest
