The Kashish Mumbai International Queer Film Festival is one of the most interesting gay film festivals in India, with an aim to try and reach as many people as possible in the country’s biggest city by showing LGBT films for free.
Now the festival is coming to the UK, under the title Queer India, with filmmaker Sridhar Rangayan showing movies from Kashish, as well as his own films, in showcases and other events in Brighton and London between now November 30th (unfortunately though, this time it’s not free), before he moves on to other European countries.
Queer India is described as ‘A peep into the colorful Indian homosexual closet and understanding of the fast changing contemporary Indian LGBT landscape through discussions and screenings of films by Sridhar Rangayan and award winning short films from KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival.
‘Films part of the collection are: ‘The Pink Mirror (Gulabi Aaina)’, ’68 Pages’, ‘Project Bolo’, ‘Amen’, ‘Flower Bud (Kusum)’, ‘In The Closet’, ‘More Than A Friend’, ‘Logging Out’, ‘The Night Is Young (Raat Baaki)’, ‘Are We Different (Amra Ki Etoi Bhinno)’ and ‘Breaking Free’ (Trailer).’
As for Sridhar Rangayan, he’s an Indian filmmaker whose queer films on social issues have screened at more than 100 national and international film festivals; won several awards and have received great critical acclaim. He has served as Jury member at Berlinale (Germany) for the Teddy Awards and Movies That Matter (Netherlands) for Matter of Act Awards.
He is the Festival Director of KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival, India’s biggest queer film festival and Founder Trustee of The Humsafar Trust. He has been at the forefront of Indian LGBT movement for over two decades and contributed through his films, writings and talks.
The London event is presented by the University of Westminster’s India Media Center and will screen at the the site of Britain’s first cinema screening, the Old Cinema on Regent Street, where the Lumiere Brothers showed their films in the late 1800s. The audience will get to see Rangayan’s ‘Gulabi Aaina (The Pink Mirror)’, along with award-winning short films from Kashish such as ‘Amen’, ‘Kusum (The Flower Bud)’, ‘Logging Out’ and ‘Raat Baaki (Night is Young).
Rangayan commented, “I am tremendously excited to screen the films at one of Britain’s oldest theaters. It is a rare honor and I am greatly looking forward to this event.”
Ranadeep Bhattacharya and Judhajit Bagchi, directors of short film ‘Amen’, have said, “It’s normally difficult to screen short films on gender and sexuality to a large audience in India but with Kashish film festival, filmmakers like us have a new ray of hope. And now with our film ‘Amen’ being a part of the Queer India European Tour, we are ecstatic. It’s both overwhelming and encouraging to the entire team as now our stories are ready to be shared with the world.”
After visiting the UK, Rangayan heads for Dublin, Warsaw and Stockholm as part of a European tour. Take a look below for the current calendar of events.
BRIGHTON, UK: Nov 21 – 26th 2012
November 22nd 2012
4.00pm – 6.00pm at University of Sussex
Screening of clips from Sridhar Rangayan’s films and discussion
http://www.facebook.com/events/435393629842250/
Presented by GQC
November 24th 2012
2.00pm at CineCity
Curating Queer Film Culture roundtable panel discussion
http://www.facebook.com/events/360991103991391/
Presented by GQC
followed by screening of KASHISH Shorts
4.00pm at Cinecity
http://www.facebook.com/events/122114541278741
Presented by GQC
November 26th 2012
Alliance Secretariat
Screening of clips from Sridhar Rangayan’s films and KASHISH shorts and discussion
LONDON, UK: Nov 27 – 30th 2012
November 28th 2012
The Old Cinema (in Regent Street campus of University of Westminster)
Screening of Sridhar Rangayan’s films and KASHISH shorts
Presented by India Media Center, University of Westminster
November 30th 2012
University of West London
Screening of clips from Sridhar Rangayan’s films and KASHISH shorts and discussion
DUBLIN, IRELAND: Dec 1 – 4th 2012
December 3rd 2012
Dublin City University
Screening of film Sridhar Rangayan’s film ’68 Pages’ and discussion
Presented by DCU and EROSS
WARSAW, POLAND: Dec 4 – 8th 2012
December 8th 2012
Watch Docs Human Rights Film Festival, Warsaw, Poland
Panel discussion on LGBT Rights
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN : Dec 9 – 16th 2012
December 10, 11th 2012
Stockholm, Sweden
RFSL/SIDA International Programme Alumni Seminar
December 12-16th 2012
ILGA World Conference, Stockholm, Sweden
Workshop: Documenting LGBT Histories
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