22 May,2011 09:30 AM IST | | Dhamini Ratnam
The Kashish Mumbai International Queer Film Festival 2011 starts on Friday with a clear aim to rope in the straight cats too. As entertainment becomes the festival's new mantra, businesses worldwide have sat up and taken notice, with everyone from a condom manufacturer to a Hong Kong-based bank ready to promote it
Sitting in his airy apartment in Malad, 48 year-old Sridhar Rangayan glances at a fruit-laden tree from his window, before he is interrupted by a buzz emanating from somewhere behind the cushion on the floor diwan. He had put it there moments ago, apologising for not giving us his complete attention. Retrieving the phone, he gets up indicating that he'll be gone for two seconds. A minute later, he's back on his seat. "Where was I?"
Ellena Undone is the story of two diametrically opposed
women who are attracted to each other
A week before the upcoming second Kashish Mumbai International Queer Film Festival, Rangayan, who is one of the two directors of the festival, clearly has a lot going on. "This year, the festival will be b-i-g!" says Rangayan, who has spent the past few months with Vivek Anand, the other director of the festival, and members of the advocacy group Humsafar Trust and cultural platform Bombay Dost, in coming up with ways to draw both, the straight and queer communities to this festival.
"These films are not just for the queer crowd -- at the end of the day, we will showcase good cinema," says Rangayan. Kashish will be showcased at Cinemax Versova and at Alliance Francaise, Marine Lines.u00a0 For the first time, however, the festival has used an online platform to showcase a selection of their films. The Kashish Coffee Break showcased 10 films under 10 minutes on the website https://indieflix.com/festivalsonline, where viewers were invited to rate the films in an online competition that ended on May 20. The winner of the film will receive an award and will be showcased on IndieFlix, a Seattle-based start up thatu00a0 promotes independent filmmakers.
"IndieFlix, which has nothing to do with queer advocacy, offered to host these films for free," says Rangayan, excited that mainstream businesses have supported the festival. The main partner of the festival is DKT International, a non-profit organisation, that sells condoms in third world nations. Hong Kong-based Nomura Bank is another contributor.
The organisers also allowed individuals and other small groups to contribute in return for advertising space on the festival brochure. "We crowdsourced $2,000 (Rs 89,830) and used it to fund the visit of US filmmaker Q Allan Brocka," says Rangayan. "Brocka makes queer films that are viewed by mainstream audiences. I think our filmmakers need an exposure to that kind of cinema."
Shyam Benegal, the chairman of the Mumbai film festival MAMI (Mumbai Academy of Moving Image), is festival patron of Kashish, while the British Council will fund the visit of Rikki Beadle-Blair, the festival's 'filmmaker in focus'. "We were intent on providing entertainment. And I am happy with the connections that we've made with straight, non-LGBT businesses to promote our festival," Rangayan adds.
However, even as plans for entertainment and mainstreaming continue to occupy Rangayan's mind, activism remains an essential component of the festival. This year, panel discussions will include one with parents of queers, and one on bullying and homophobia experienced in schools.
"We will record these discussions and make them available online," says Rangayan. Among the 124 films from 23 countries that will be screened, 21 are by Indian filmmakers. These include Bengali, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi and English language films. There will be five competitive categories for these films, but all will be free to watch. However, viewers would be required to register in advance. The delegate forms are available online on the festival website and at select locations including the Kashish office in Santa Cruz (W), Azad Bazaar and DKloset in Bandra. Last year, the first Kashish Festival drew in an estimated 1,200 viewers. This time, its online and offline avatars promise to bring in more.
At: Cinemax Versova, Alliance Francaise, Marine Lines
When: May 26 to 29, 2011
Visit: www.mumbaiqueerfest.com
You don't want to miss these films
FIT (2010)
105 min / Narrative feature from UKu00a0u00a0u00a0
Sparkling with infectious energy, FIT focuses on the everyday lives of six diverse British youths who are brought together by a dance teacher. None of the teens are what they seem at first glance, with gay hearts lurking behind tough exteriors and straight kids expressing themselves in very queer ways.
Screening: May 26, 6.30 pm Cinemax, Versova
Elena undone (2010)
111 min / Narrative feature from USA
Peyton and Elena are, on the surface, diametrically opposed -- one, a well-known writer, the other a photographer caught in a loveless marriage -- but when their paths cross they feel compelled to connect.u00a0
Screening: May 26, 9.00 pm at Cinemax, Versova
Heartu00a0breaksu00a0open (2011)
81 min / Narrative feature from USA
A queer activist's world implodes after discovering that he is HIV positive, forcing him to confront his innermost fears and future living with HIV.
Screening: May 28, 11.30 am at Alliance Francaise, Marine Lines
Undertow (Contracorriente) (2009)
100 min /Narrative feature from Columbia
Miguel is a young fisherman in Cabo Blanco, a fishing village in Peru, where the community has deep-rooted religious traditions. Miguel is married to the beautiful Mariela, who is seven months pregnant with their firstborn, but Miguel harbours a scandalous secret: He is having an affair with another man.
Screening: May 25, 7 pm at Cinemax, Versova; May 27, 11.15 pm second screening, same venue
Iu00a0shotu00a0my loveu00a0(2010)
70 min / Documentary feature from Israel and Germany
Seventy years after his grandfather escapes from Nazi Germany to Palestine, Israeli documentary director Tomer Heymann returns to the country of his ancestors to present his film Paper Dolls at the Berlin International Film Festival, where he falls in love with Andreas, a German. When Andreas decides to move with him to Tel-Aviv, Tomer not only has to cope with a new partner, but to manage the complex realities of life in Israel and his personal connection to it as a German citizen.u00a0
Screening: May 27, 5 pm at Alliance Francaise
Iu00a0am (2011)
71 min / Documentary feature from INDIA and USAu00a0
A personal documentary about coming out to parents living in India, at a time when Section 377 was legal, I Am chronicles the journey of an Indian queer filmmaker who returns to Delhi, 11 years later, to re-open what was once home, and finally confronts the loss of her mother whom she never came out to.
Screening: May 28, 3.15 pm at Cinemax Versova
