The physical edition of the Kashish Mumbai International Queer Film Festival, which was held at Liberty Cinema, has come to a close.
The screenings were held from 1 to 5 June. However, the online festival, which began on 2 June, will continue till 12 June.
The online festival is screening features, documentaries and short films pertaining to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer and non-binary identities. The films touch upon issues of coming out, family acceptance, finding love, relationships, negotiating intersections between sexuality and faith, race and caste.
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“We are thrilled by the response to both the physical and online festival," said festival director Sridhar Rangayan. “By including the online component we are able to reach audiences across India and across the world to participate in our festival. We are thankful to all the filmmakers for agreeing to be part of our hybrid edition and screening their amazing films. Without them, this festival can’t exist.”
“We have priced the programmes at an extremely low cost so that more people across India and the world can enjoy these films from the comforts of their own homes," added Rangayan.
Some of the films from the festival being screened online include those showcased in the Documentary Shorts Competition II and the Indian Narrative Shorts Competition which comprises Muhafiz by Pradipta Ray and Dal Bhat by Nemil Shah.
“While the highest number of films is from India, there are films from the USA, UK, Australia, several countries in Europe and the Asia Pacific. We also have films from Lebanon, Iran and Palestine, where being an LGBTQ+ person is very challenging," said Saagar Gupta, director of programming.