New Delhi: The Pride Month has kicked off with Kashish 2022, an LGBTQ+ film festival. The Kashish Mumbai International Queer Film Festival is being held in Mumbai from June 1 to June 5. During the film festival, more than 194 films from 53 countries will be screened. A total of 31 films being screened are from India. The films include documentaries, short films, and narrative feature films.
Kashish Mumbai International Queer Film Festival is South Asia’s largest LGBTQIA+ film festival and the first queer film festival to be held at a mainstream theatre.
Filmmaker, writer and activist Sridhar Rangayan—known for his films on the queer community like The Pink Mirror, Purple Skies, 68 Days, Project Bolo, and Yours Emotionally—is the Festival director.
The festival opened on Wednesday (June 1) with the Indian film ‘Antharam’. It is about a transwoman and her journey of acceptance. Antharam stars transgender actor Neha. It will be followed by ‘Badhaai Do’, starring Rajkumar Rao and Bhumi Pednekar today (June 2). On Saturday (June 4), ‘Sheer Qorma; directed by Faraz Arif Ansari and starring Swara Bhaskar, Shabana Azmi, and Divya Dutt will be screened.
‘Badhaai Do’ is this year’s Special Feature and Ansari’s ‘Sheer Qorma’ is the Indian Narrative Centrepiece film. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion ‘Mainstreaming Lesbian and Non-Binary Identities”.
