Nominations for KASHISH 2024 – RIYAD WADIA AWARD FOR BEST EMERGING INDIAN FILMMAKER

Instituted in memory of late filmmaker Riyad Wadia, who made India’s first gay film BOMgAY, Riyad Wadia Award for Best Emerging Indian Filmmaker is an attempt by KASHISH to recognize and nurture emerging Indian voices. Indian narrative and documentary short films that are the filmmaker’s first or second film made in 2023/2024 compete for this award which carries a KASHISH Butterfly Trophy and a Rs.25,000 cash award supported by Wadia Movietone – one of the pioneering Indian production companies established in 1933.

Five emerging Indian directors have been nominated under this category for KASHISH 2024. Their films collectively display narratives about the diverse spectrum of the LGBTQ+ community.

ABU SOHEL KHONDEKAR (Director, Mehroon)
Abu Sohel Khondekar(They/ Them), a filmmaker/writer, despite coming from a conservative Muslim background, embraced atheism, navigating a unique path. As a neurodivergent, Non-binary Trans person, Abu passionately advocates for LGBTQ rights. Holding a Masters in Film Studies from Jadavpur University, they engage in leftist politics, voicing against oppression.
With distrust for authority, Abu expresses their beliefs through documentary photography, fuelled by passion for cinema and writing. Believing in cinema’s transformative power, Abu aims to create impactful films inspiring change. Mehroon is their debut film.

MEHROON 10 min | 2024 | India | Narrative Short Mehroon, a transgender woman receives the news of her father’s death through a text message from her sister, and her father’s will through a courier. The will states that Mehroon will be eligible for property only if she presents herself as a son.

BONITA RAJPUROHIT (Director, IYKYK)
Born & brought up in Rajasthan, Bonita started her career with modelling for brands and magazines which led to acting in TV/Digital commercials. She was crowned the Miss Trans Queen India 2019 as the 2nd Runner-up. In 2020, she joined 1719 Film Factory Production House where she wrote & directed her first commercial fashion film for URBANIC. She is one of the three key casts in the upcoming Debakar Banerjee film LSD2 (Love, Sex aur Dhoka 2) as Kullu Vishwakarma, which marks her acting debut in Indian mainstream cinema. She has written & directed a short IYKYK (If You Know You Know) that was incubated by KASHISH QDrishti Film Grant under the mentorship of Alankrita Shrivastava.

IYKYK (If You Know You Know) Director: Bonita Rajpurohit 25 min | 2024 | India | Hindi | Narrative Short Everyone seems to have a different approach to the elephant in the room; her Gender Identity. Address it or ignore it. No one seems to have a clue how to go about it. We follow a series of dates, Kusum goes on.

LEO PAAPAM (Director, Dear Sahithya)
Leo (They, Them) primarily worked as a photographer while assisting various filmmakers and content creators in their attempts to learn filmmaking. Their work as an assistant includes an experimental Haryanvi film, a web series from Kashmir, and collaborations with other content creators. Their focus on representation of intersectional identities has guided their career choices. They’ve recently been working with filmmaker Shridhar Sudhir in researching for Buddhijeev Studios and assisting in teaching filmmaking. They recently moved to Goa to be closer to a thriving nonconforming community out here, also completing a documentary and exploring new content creation opportunities. Dear Sahithya is their debut film.

DEAR SAHITHYA
23 min | 2023 | India | English, Hindi | Documentary Short

Dear Sahithya is a filmic letter from the director to their friend Sahithya, who is about to transform their body and soul with a double incision mastectomy. The director bears witness and records this pivotal moment in their life, and shares their journey of finding acceptance as a trans non-binary person in a suburban middle class world.

SARTHAK CHAUHAN (Director, Chitthi)
Sarthak is a Delhi-based photographer and filmmaker originally from Shimla. His work explores themes of vulnerability, alienation, queerness and, primarily, the human condition. Through his work, he aims to portray queerness the way it is as well as through symbols that subvert the heterosexist male gaze and the negative presumptions about queerness.
Chitthi is his debut film that he made on a zero budget.

CHITTHI
10 min | 2023 | India | Pahari | Experimental Narrative Short

Chitthi explores the idea of alienation through a queer lens as well as the consequences of such subordination. The story unfolds itself through a letter, where the protagonist (the narrator) equates the loss of his lover with a man he sees in his dreams. Unaware of what has happened to his lover, whether he has gone missing or been a victim to of a hate crime; he asks his mother how to cope with such a loss.

VIVEK SHAH (Director, Kitty Kelly’s Diwali)
Vivek Shah is a Mumbai-based cinematographer since 1995, and a member of the esteemed Indian Society of Cinematographers. He studied Fine Arts at M.S. University, Baroda and Cinematography at Film & Television Institute of India.
Some of his notable work as Director Of Photography includes feature films: Bariwali, Love Hostel, Gurgaon, Khargosh, Kaphal and Lilkee. He is also the DOP of web-series Inside Edge Season 2 & 3, Masoom, Aakhri Sach and Showtime.
Kitty Kelly’s Diwali is his debut independent film as writer & director.

KITTY KELLY’S DIWALI (Original Title: Kitty Kelly Ki Diwali) 52 min | 2023 | India | Narrative Short Good Indian Girl KITTY decides to kill grumpy old landlady KANJI to save her love KELLY from deportation. White American Kelly, Bollywood backup dancer, has a murky past. But even for her committing two murders in one night, is a new low.