Kashish 2021: The spotlight will be on Asia this time

The 12th edition of the Kashish Mumbai International Queer Film Festival will focus on LGBTQIA+ films from Asia. A selection of 39 films from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Myanmar, Iran, Lebanon, Turkey and Indonesia will be screened virtually during the course of the festival.

Three narrative feature films, Another Self (Iran), Love, Spells And All That (Turkey) and Brihonnola (India), and two documentary feature films from India — Aamitted and Mohini: Men in Sarees — are part of the selection along with a host of narrative and documentary short films.

Saagar Gupta, the festival's director of programming, said, “These films not only highlight the challenges faced by the LGBTQIA+ community due to legal and social discrimination, but also offer portraits of joy and happiness that queer people manage to find against all odds. These films not only mirror realities, but also celebrate the human spirit.”

Some of the shorts from India are Are We There Yet? by Bhanu Babbal and Kashyap Swaroop; Begum Parvathi by Radhika Prasidhha; Inside (Akam) by Jinesh VS; My Mother’s Girlfriend by Arun Fulara; Shikhandi by Sahil D Gada; Tales Of Another Radha by Sudipto Kundu; and We’re All God’s Creation (Sab Rab De Bande) by Sukhdeep Singh.

The 2021 edition of the Kashish festival will take place online over three weekends from 19 August to 5 September.