KASHISH Pride Film Festival 2024: 15 highlights of the festival’s 15th edition

Among many other things that Mumbai is known for it is also popular for its arts and cultural festivals KASHISH Pride Film Festival one of the most celebrated film festivals in the country is back to the bay This yearrsquos theme is lsquoUnfurl Your Pridersquo an invitation for everyone to come to KASHISH with their true and complete self holding their head high with prideSridhar Rangayan festival director says ldquoAs with any international festival there is a lot of buzz around some of the films While we love each and every one of the 133 films we are screening we have put together 15 films that are the buzziest in the 15th edition of KASHISH Pride Film Festival They stand out either through their narrative approaches or the unique standpoint the filmmaker takes or some films that raise uncomfortable questions which are necessary while others bring out the joys and triumphs of the community Each of these films are a must see and we hope you manage to catch them allrdquoIf you have been planning to attend this film festival we share some key highlights you must check out1 The festival was first organised in 2010 this year being its 15th edition The festival was also conducted during the pandemic years2 This year festival changed its name to KASHISH Pride Film Festival from KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival to be more inclusive of LGBTQ communities as well as allies who attend the festival and to make it one of the film festivals to reckon with nationally3 KASHISH 2024 is being held from May 1519 at three venues Liberty Cinema and Alliance Francaise in South Mumbai and Cinepolis in Andheri West4 133 films from 46 countries are being showcased this year with 33 featurelength narrative and documentary films5 45 films in 11 competition categories along with five screenplays are competing for a total cash award of rupees seven lakh ndash highest ever at KASHISH6 For the first time KASHISH will be hosting the Asia Pacific Queer Film Festival Alliance award to give away the Best APQFFA short film award with a cash prize of US 1000 supported by GagaOOLala a Taiwanese OTT platform7 The festival has introduced a new category this year ndash Best Indian Film on Mental Health supported by Keshav Suri Foundation8 The festival is set to screen 12 world premieres 56 Asian premieres and 89 Indian premieres9 The festival will also see 10 films made by transgenderidentifying filmmakers including transwomen transmasculine and nonbinary filmmakers10 Some films will also focus on elderly queer persons with seven films about elderly gay lesbian and trans folks11 Eminent jury panels will comprise awardwinning filmmakers popular actors and media personalities who will pick the winners on the closing night12 The famous Lola Kutty aka Anu Menon and Seductress Soniqa will host the opening ceremony on May 1513 Popular media personalities Rohini Ramnathan and Rohan Joshi will host the closing ceremony 14 Opening night will feature a standup act by Varun Grover and a KathakLavani dance by Aditi Bhagwat and troupe the Closing Ceremony will feature a classical dance by Sunil Sunkara and troupe and a vibrant dance performance by the queer group Colour Positive15 Lastly a chat with Nandita Das on May 18 and several other panel discussions will be held including a Sweekar The Rainbow Parents group meet