Kashish film fest: Stories of pride
MUMBAI: Ten years after the Kashish Mumbai International Queer Film Festival began as a platform for conveying stories the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community can relate to, this year’s event, the first after Supreme Court (SC) decriminalised homosexuality, has featured members of the community telling stories about their lives.
The festival will be held from June 12 to June 16.
Organisers of the festival said after the SC struck down section 377 last year, they wanted community members to narrate stories that could not be told earlier for fear of the law.
“It is for the first time where we have showcased the faces of community members and their families, so that the world knows that the festival is a platform of acceptance. The promo features couples from the community as well as parents,” said Sridhar Rangayan, founder and festival director.
Rangayan said the festival was started after the Delhi HC decriminalised section 377 in July 2009 (in December 2013, the SC overturned the Delhi HC’S judgment). “It was to provide a platform to members of the community and allies. We hope the festival will draw a larger audience, apart from community members,” Rangayan added.
The theme for the festival this year is ‘Over the Rainbow’, which would focus on celebrations after the SC verdict, and also have movies focusing on ‘challenges in store for the community on its journey towards empowerment and social acceptance’.
Debendra Nath Sanyal, who works with a firm in Thane, features in the promo along with his partner Ankit Andurlekar. Sanyal said he would want people to be unapologetically themselves.
“Kashish was the first LGBTQ event I took Ankit out for, which is when he realised that there are many like us. We would want people who are in closet, to gather courage and come out in open,” said Sanyal.
Anjali Siroya, from the advocacy office at NGO Humsafar Trust, said ‘life has come full circle for her’.
“I first went for Kashish as an audience, just to see the kind of cinema that was on offer, post which I became a volunteer and now I am featured in the promo. Let’s see where this journey takes me,” said Siroya.