KASHISH TO FACILITATE SCREENING OF INDIAN LGBTQ FILMS IN UK, USA

KASHISH Global recently screened at Australia, Pakistan, Mexico, South Korea, Canada, China, Taiwan, Czech Republic, Indonesia, Hong Kong

KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival – South Asia’s biggest LGBTQ film festival – will once again take Indian LGBTQ films across the world this year as part of its KASHISH Global Initiative. The forthcoming screenings are in the UK and USA.

“It is really gratifying to see the universal response to the package of Indian LGBTQ films that we have been facilitating at film festivals across the globe. The KASHISH Global program has resonated with many festivals because they are seeing a new India, which is coming out of the shadows and offering a diverse range of stories and emotions. Indian LGBTQ films have truly arrived on the global scene”
– Sridhar Rangayan, festival director.

The forthcoming screenings in the months of March-May are as follows:

* BFI Flare, London, UK : FISH CURRY, DEVI, CHUDALA on March 23rd and March 24th at one of the world’s most prestigious LGBTQ film festival

* Feminist Border Arts Film Festival, New Mexico State University: DEVI on April 18th

* Translations, Seattle, USA: CHUDALA, AARSA between May 3-12, 2017

In the last two months KASHISH Global has facilitated screening of Indian LGBTQ films in USA, Australia, Mexico and Pakistan.

* Best of India Short Film Festival 2018, Los Angeles, USA: AARSA (Finalist), DEVI (Semi Finalist) and SISAK (Official Selection) between February 9-16th

* Mexico Silent International Film Festival, Mexico: SISAK on February 16th , winner of Best Short Film

* Brisbane Queer Film Festival, Australia: SISAK and DEVI on March 10th

* Aks Minority Film Festival, Lahore, Pakistan: DEVI, CHUDALA, AARSA, FISH CURRY, WAJOOD on March 11th
KASHISH Global screenings have also been recently facilitated in South Korea, Canada, China, Taiwan, Czech Republic, Indonesia, Hong Kong, etc.

What do Indian filmmakers who have made LGBTQ films have to say?

“After winning the KASHISH MIQFF title in 2017 and then being part of the Kashish Global made Maacher Jhol journey smooth and beautiful. With KASHISH, we went to IRIS, BFI Flare and had many other screenings in Colleges & Corporations. The film is presented in big LGBTQ festivals of the world and we were overwhelmed with the response, love and reaction. As a beginner filmmaker, I would have never able to take my film to such festivals. The film is not meant for Desktops but theatres.”
– Abhishek Verma, director of The Fish Curry (Maacher Jhol)

 

“Very few film festivals offer such a personalised approach as KASHISH does. It takes that extra mile to push someone’s work and experience its ripples all over and this festival does precisely that. I was thrilled to have my film here and was touched to see how the KASHISH team worked towards giving the film an additional platform in different places around the world. So not only am I grateful but also feel like I belong to an extended group in a way. In many respects, it is more than a film festival.”
– Maaria Sayed, director of Chudala

 

“Now more than ever, there’s a need for platforms like KASHISH Global to help forge a connection for LGBTQ filmmakers with its audiences. KASHISH’s support of these works has expanded the life span of my short film to unimaginable level. Very grateful to KASHISH to have the film be seen.”
– Karishma Dube, director of Devi

 

“What KASHISH has achieved for independent Indian queer cinema is mammoth. To provide a safe, all-inclusive space that celebrates and honours queer cinema & brings together the queer community in a country where homosexuality is a crime is something that’ll go down in history. As someone who identifies as a queer filmmaker, for me, KASHISH is more than a film festival. It is a celebration. And I hope it goes on until the end of time. Although my film Sisak, India’s First Silent LGBTQ Love Story, having won 38 International Awards, as of today, at some of the most prestigious film festivals across the world, didn’t win any award at Kashish, it did win a lot of hearts and a few producers for my first queer feature film.”
– Faraz Arif Ansari, director of Sisak