KASHISH 2023 Festival Catalog

India Pride & Allies

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QUÉBEC, PROMOTER OF HUMAN RIGHTS

FESTIVAL VISION

KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival is an attempt to encourage greater visibility of Indian and International queer cinema among both queer and mainstream audiences as a means to foster better understanding of queer thoughts, desires and expressions.

Since its debut in 2010, KASHISH has emerged as South Asia’s and India’s biggest LGBTQIA+ film festival. We are committed to bring the best of international and Indian queer cinema to Mumbai and continue mainstreaming of queer issues and their lives.

Apart from exhibiting LGBTQIA+ films during its annual festival, KASHISH also has been instrumental in taking Indian LGBTQIA+ films across the world, offering these films distribution, and also producing sensitive LGBTQIA+ content through film grants.

KASHISH believes that art and films are powerful mediums to bring about social change and the festival uses the reach and spread that KASHISH has already established as one of Mumbai’s important film festivals to rally public opinion towards equality and dignity for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual and non-binary persons. KASHISH uses local, national and international platforms to advocate and sensitize the larger public about LGBTQIA+ issues.

KASHISH strongly believes in bringing together the diversity of the LGBTQIA+ experiences through films and discussions, and enable an equitable society for every LGBTQIA+ individual to live with dignity.

FESTIVAL BACKGROUND

Voted as one of the Top 5 LGBTQIA+ Film Festivals in the world, KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival is South Asia’s biggest queer film Festival and the first LGBTQIA+ film festival in India to be held in a mainstream theatre.

Founded in 2010 and held every year for the past seven years the festival has grown from strength to strength. KASHISH attracts close to 8500 footfalls every year over its five day festival. It is the first Indian LGBTQIA+ festival to be held with the approval of the Information & Broadcasting ministry, Government of India.

The festival also attracts topline Bollywood celebrities, filmmakers, critics and academicians from India as well as many international guests from across the world. It receives more than hundred press features every year from the Indian press as well as international press, including the New York Times & Variety.

KASHISH since 2010 to 2016 has been organized by Solaris Pictures and coorganized by The Humsafar Trust. Since 2017, KASHISH is organized by KASHISH Arts Foundation, in association with Solaris Pictures.

KASHISH Initiatives

KASHISH has various initiatives to keep the mainstream engaged in the conversation around LGBTQ+ issues through the year using the medium of films.

KASHISH Forward

India’s first travelling campus queer film festival – is a series of oneday festivals that would travel to campuses across India, aiming to reach out and create awareness about issues of the LGBTQ+ community. The objective is to create an atmosphere of acceptance for queer students who would be grappling with issues of coming out in sometimes hostile environments. KASHISH Forward has held over 40 screenings in colleges across India, not only in Metro cities, but also Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.

KASHISH Rendezvous

Considering the need for conversations around LGBTQ+, KASHISH Rendezvous is a one-and-a-half hour customized program of films and discussions for corporate companies. The films and discussions will be a window into the broad spectrum of the lives of LGBTQ+ colleagues. Besides sensitizing the audience to the issues of LGBTQ+ persons, it will show that their lives are no different from their own. KASHISH has been actively holding screenings, alongwith panel discussions, over the past two years to several corporate houses.

Best of KASHISH

Best of KASHISH film screenings are organized across India at film festivals, events and as part of Pride celebrations in various cities. Short films and documentaries that have won awards or were audience favorites in the previous edition, are programmed at these events to offer a glimpse of the Best of KASHISH. Best of KASHISH has also been released on Disney+Hotstar, MX Player and LesFlicks (USA) and GagaOoLala (Taiwan).

KASHISH Global

With a view to provide a platform for Indian filmmakers who make films on queer themes, KASHISH facilitates screenings of Indian LGBTQ+ films at various festivals, universities and cities across the world. KASHISH has developed close collaboration with more than 70 international film festivals around the world.

KASHISH Initiatives

KASHISH Chalchitra Utsav

A day long film festival showcasing the best Regional language LGBTQ+ films from across India. This initiative was launched in January 2017 as part of Mumbai Pride events, and was held every year till 2019.

KASHISH QDrishti Film Grant

KASHISH QDrishti Film Grant is an initiative to encourage LGBTQ+ storytelling, especially to bring about greater visibility of South Asian LGBTQ+ narratives. This grant, sponsored by Lotus Visual Productions (a UK/India based production company) was launched in 2016 and has supported production of 8 films already. From 2021 the grant is specifically given to LGBTQ+ identifying filmmakers.

KASHISH We Care Fund

KASHISH We Care Fund was launched in 2020 to offer resources to 5 LGBTQ+ focused organizations, to assist them in reaching out with help to the LGBTQ+ community, specially the trans* community, during the COVID pandemic. KAHSISH donates 60% of its collections, through registrations, to 7 organizations across India under this initiative.

To organize a screening at your college, office, city or event, write to us at partners.kashish@gmail.com

KASHISH Organizers

KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival is presented by KASHISH Arts Foundation, alongwith Solaris Pictures.

KASHISH Arts Foundation is a not-for-profit public trust that aims to arrange and organize programs in the field of arts, culture, literature, theatre and films. It aims to create awareness and work for the Social, Cultural, Educational awakening of citizens of India who are marginalized on the basis of their gender identity, HIV status, transgender persons and other sexual minorities.

Every year KASHISH Arts Foundation presents its flagship event KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival. It also organizes KASHISH Forward, a traveling campus LGBTQ+ film festival. The trust facilitates KASHISH Global, programming of Indian LGBTQ+ films at festivals worldwide, and Best of KASHISH, screening at various organizations and pride events across India. Since 2018 the trust also launched KASHISH Chalchitra Utsav, a regional language LGBTQ+ film festival.

Solaris Pictures is the only Indian film production company focused on producing, distributing and exhibiting LGBTQ+ films. Its award winning films Breaking Free, Purple Skies, 68 Pages, Yours Emotionally!, Project Bolo and Gulabi Aaina (The Pink Mirror) have screened at more than 200 film festivals across the world and received great critical acclaim. They have laid the foundation for the nascent Indian LGBTQ queer film movement.

Solaris Pictures founded KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival in 2010 and has been the one of main organizer of the festival for the past 12 years. The festival carries forward Solaris Pictures mission of using cinema as a medium to advocate for equal rights and dignity for the LGBTQ community.

Solaris Pictures last production Evening Shadows has been a big success garnering 27 awards and more than 82international film festival screening. It had a limited theatrical release and streamed on Netflix for 3 years. Currently Solaris Pictures is producing a sequel to Evening Shadows titled Kuch Sapney Apne.

Festival Patron

SHYAM BENEGAL

It is marvellous to see how KASHISH has grown over the last 12 years, but more important is its mainstream acceptance. Today KASHISH has become an important event in the mainstream cultural space in Mumbai. LGBT persons are still looked on as different and in many societies as criminals. Movies are a great way of communication and breaking these stereotypes. I support KASHISH as it helps to extend understanding of people in the broadest possible way and deepen the sense of humanity by including people of alternate sexuality.

Shyam Benegal is an iconic Indian director and screenwriter. With his first four feature films Ankur (1973), Nishant (1975), Manthan (1976) and Bhumika (1977) he was part of a new genre, which started the movement for Alternate cinema. His films Mandi, Junoon, Trikal, Sardari Begum, Zubeida are also considered masterpieces. Benegal was awarded the Padma Shri in 1976, the Padma Bhushan in 1991 and in 2007, he was awarded the highest award in Indian cinema for lifetime achievement, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. He has won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi seven times.

Welcome Note

SRIDHAR RANGAYAN Founder Festival Director

There is Hope beyond the Rainbow! After the reading down of Sec 377 in 2018, the LGBTQ+ community have been rallying for equal rights, anti-discriminatory laws, equality for transgender persons and the recent hot topic marriage equality. KASHISH has been part of this movement for change from its inception, and this year as we bring to you KASHISH 2023 during June Pride Month, we look forward to highlighting issues and celebrating successes in forms and colours.

The theme of KASHISH 2023 is Be Fluid, Be You!, giving wings to the aspirations of the contemporary generation that is fluid in their thoughts, actions and sexualities; which is expressed through films, art and poetry that is universal in its appeal.

We are thrilled to present an amazing collection of 127 LGBTQIA+ films from 45 countries, with 27 films from India, many of them feature-length films! It reaffirms our position as India’s and South Asia’s biggest LGBTQ+ film festival. And to showcase all of them on the big screen at Liberty Cinema is a joy in itself.

We are happy to have the continued support of many of our regular partners, but also some new companies who are backing us this year’s festival. Without them and each one of our audience members support, this festival cannot happen at the scale we envision.

Come to Liberty Cinema and Alliance Française de Bombay and enjoy watching the films with your friends, families and allies, share the joy of meeting and networking and celebrate diversity with us. If you can’t make it to the physical on-ground festival, you can of course attend the online edition of the festival with many of the films from the on-ground edition, but also many more additional films.

However you may decide to join KASHISH, you should definitely be a part of it. Let’s paint the June Pride Month with Rainbow Colours!

DOLLY THAKORE

KASHISH ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS

A critically acclaimed award-winning filmmaker, Arunaraje passed out of the Film Institute of India with a gold medal in 1969 and was the first trained girl technician to join the industry. Some of her features are Shaque, Gehrayee, Situm, Rihaee, Bhairavi, Keh Do Na, Tum and Firebrand. Apart from teaching, she has been part of decision-making bodies in many film schools. She has served on many juries including National Film Awards and has been a strong voice for documentaries. She has won 6 National awards for her films and documentaries Mallika Sarabhai, A New Paradigm and Behind the Glass Wall. She has been a Landmark Forum Leader and has led transformational programs as a Life Coach.

Dolly Thakore has worn many hats –starting her career on Radio, she became known as a News Reader on Bombay Doordarshan. And simultaneously, a writer of many personal columns, and reviewer of English and Hindi Films and Theatre – in almost every English daily and periodical of that time. She has been a Communications Consultant for numerous Corporate Houses. Her two passions have remained the stage and social Work. She has been part of the ensemble of actors of the hugely successful Vagina Monologues, which has been running for twenty years. And between all this, she juggles her time with NGOS. Among others, currently she is the national coordinator for Laadli Girl Child Campaign media award.

Meghna Ghai Puri is the President of Whistling Woods International. Promoted by filmmaker Subhash Ghai, Mukta Arts Limited & Film city Mumbai, Whistling Woods International is Asia’s largest Film, Television, Animation and Media Arts institute. She holds an advanced diploma in Communications, Advertising and Marketing and a BSc Honours degree in Business Management from Kings College, London. Earlier in her career she managed marketing and Business Development for Mukta Arts Ltd and was associated with films like Pardes, Taal, and Yaadein. She has been associated with key businesses in the Indian entertainment industry through prominent projects including the ambitious stage celebration of 100 years of Indian cinema – Cinema 100.

ARUNARAJE PATIL

MEGHNA GHAI PURI

RENUKA SHAHANE

Onir is an Indian filmmaker, producer, screenwriter and editor. He is best known for his films My Brother...Nikhil and I Am which won the Indian National Film awards for Best Film (Hindi). Born as Anirban Dhar in Samchi, Bhutan, Onir received a scholarship to study film editing at SFB/TTC in Berlin. He later returned to India and worked as an editor, scriptwriter, art director, music album producer and song/ music video director. Together with Sanjay Suri, Onir started Anticlock Films, a production company that concentrates on promoting young directors and new ideas. His last release was Kuchh Bheege Alfaaz which is currently streaming on Netflix. Onir has received the Diversity Award from Film Victoria Australia and La Trobe University at Indian Film Festival of Melbourne 2019.

Renuka Shahane is a popular actress in Indian theatre, television and film for the last 30 years. She is well-known for her role in the iconic Bollywood blockbuster Hum Aapke Hain Kaun?. She has received the Best Actress award for the film Aboli and the Star Screen Best Actress Awards for her roles in the TV series Imtihaan and Sailaab. Her first directorial feature film Rita was critically acclaimed, winning her the Best Director award in the 16th Nokia Star-Screen Awards 2010, and also received the best screenplay award at the 8th Pune International Film Festival, as well as the V Shantaram Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2010. Her latest feature film as director Tribhanga will be released on Netflix in 2021.

Roy Wadia hails from the Wadia Movietone family. His brother was the late filmmaker and gay activist Riyad Wadia (Fearless: The Hunterwali Story, BOMgAY ). Roy worked at CNN for 12 years, helping launch and produce much of the global broadcaster’s Asia-Pacific news programming. In 2003, Roy switched careers by joining the World Health Organisation’s China office as its communications and advocacy officer, and in 2006 joined the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control in Vancouver. From 2010-2013, he was Executive Director of Heroes Project, the Bombay-based HIV NGO under the Gates Foundation’s Avahan programme. Roy currently is with the United Nations in Denmark.

ROY WADIA

KASHISH 2023 Awards –

South Asia’s largest prize money for LGBTQ+ films

KASHISH 2023 announces cash prizes of Rs.6.75 lacs . 46 Films compete in 10 Competition categories at the festival, 5 LGBTQ+ filmmakers to pitch for KASHISH QDrishti 2023 Film Grant, and one International Poster contest.

KASHISH QDrishti Film Grant

In its 8th year now, the path-breaking KASHISH QDrishti Film Grant, which has already facilitated production of 8 LGBTQ+ short films, offers Rs.2,50,000 to a LGBTQ+ identifying filmmaker to make their queer short film, sponsored by Lotus Visual Productions. Two runner ups stand to receive Rs.50,000 cash award each supported by noted film actress Renuka Shahne.

Best Narrative Feature

The best narrative feature award category includes Indian and International narrative features completed after January 1, 2022 and having their Mumbai Premiere at KASHISH 2023. It carries a KASHISH Golden Butterfly Trophy and the highest cash prize at the festival of Rs.30,000 supported by the KASHISH Arts Foundation.

Best Indian Narrative Short

The best Indian narrative short award category includes Indian narrative short films which are under 60 minutes, completed after January 1, 2022 and having their Mumbai Premiere at KASHISH 2023. It carries a KASHISH Golden Butterfly Trophy and a cash prize of Rs.25,000 supported by the KASHISH Arts Foundation.

Best International Narrative Short

The best international short award category includes international narrative short films which are under 60 minutes, completed after January 1, 2022 and having their Mumbai Premiere at KASHISH 2023. It carries a KASHISH Golden Butterfly Trophy and a cash prize of Rs.25,000 sponsored by the GagaOoLala (Taiwan).

Best Screenplay

All the films in all the above 3 categories are eligible to compete for the Best Screenplay Award. It carries a KASHISH Golden Butterfly Trophy and a cash prize of Rs.20,000 instituted in the memory of distinguished Marathi scholar and writer Dr. Arvind Vaman Kulkarni. The award is instituted by his son, actor Abhay Kulkarni.

Best Performance in a Lead Role

All the films in all the above 3 categories are eligible to compete for the Best Performance in a Lead Role Award. It carries a KASHISH Golden Butterfly Trophy and a cash prize of Rs.25,000 supported by actress Renuka Shahane.

Riyad Wadia Award for Best Emerging Indian Filmmaker

Indian narrative and documentary short films that are the filmmaker’s first or second film completed after January 1, 2022, playing at KASHISH 2023 are eligible for nomination to this award category. It carries a certificate, an award trophy and a cash award of Rs.25,000 instituted by Wadia Movietone, in the memory of Riyad Wadia, the pioneering filmmaker who made India’s first gay film BOMgAY

Ismat Chughtai Award for Best Indian Women Filmmaker

Being introduced this year, Narrative films by an Indian woman filmmaker residing in India, whose first or second film that are completed after January 1, 2022 and playing at KASHISH 2023, are eligible for nomination to this award category. It carries a certificate, an award trophy and a cash award of Rs.20,000 instituted in the memory of renowned novelist, short story writer, liberal humanist and filmmaker Ismat Chughtai. The award is instituted by her grandson, filmmaker Ashish Sawhny.

Unity in Diversity Best Documentary Feature

The best documentary feature award category includes Indian and International documentary features completed after January 1, 2022 and having their Mumbai Premiere at KASHISH 2023. It carries a KASHISH Golden Butterfly Trophy and a cash prize of Rs.30,000 supported by the K.F.Patil Charitable Trust.

Unity in Diversity Best Documentary Short

The best documentary short award category includes Indian and International documentary short films completed after January 1, 2022 and having their Mumbai Premiere at KASHISH 2023. It carries a KASHISH Golden Butterfly Trophy and a cash prize of Rs.25,000 supported by the K.F.Patil Charitable Trust.

Best Student Short

The best student short award category includes Indian and International short films made by students of film and media schools, completed after January 1, 2022 and having their Mumbai Premiere at KASHISH 2023. It carries a KASHISH Golden Butterfly Trophy and a cash prize of Rs.25,000 supported by the Whistling Woods International.

Best Poster Design Award

Started by the couture designer Wendell Rodricks in 2012 , post his demise continued now in his memory by his partner Jérôme Marrel, , the poster design contest offers a cash award of Rs.25,000 and a KASHISH Golden Butterfly trophy. The winning design is used on all the KASHISH 2023 collaterals.

ANUP SONI

Anup Soni graduated from the National School of Drama and is a name to reckon with in all mediums of performance. His portrayal of varied characters in films like Godmother, Gangajal, Apharan and has been an integral part of iconic TV shows like Gaatha, CID Special Bureau, Balika Vadhu and many more. In the web world too Anup Soni has played significant roles in noted series like Khakee, Tandav, Saas Bahu aur Achaar and OTT films like Raat Baaki Hai and Class of 83. He anchored India’s most popular crime show, Crime Patrol for 10 years, where in his sign of line has made him a household name.

JITIN HINGORANI

Jitin Hingorani is the Founder and Festival Director of three prominent South Asian Film Festivals in the United States –Dallas/Fort Worth SAFF, New York City SAFF, and Long Island SAFF. South by Southwest (SXSW) recently commissioned him to curate the first-ever South Asian House at that festival in 2023. He also serves as the Principal/CEO of JINGO Media, a boutique PR, marketing, and events management firm focused on film, arts, entertainment, and fashion. Jitin has produced his first documentary Call Me Dancer, and is currently working on multiple feature films and web series.

LILLETE DUBEY

Lillete Dubey is a renowned and an award winning Indian film, television and stage actor and a theatre director. She has been Artistic Director of her own theatre company -The Primetime Theatre Company, for over 32 years and her theatrical work has travelled all over the globe, to much acclaim. Ms. Dubey has performed in over 70 films & TV shows, national & international, some of which include Monsoon Wedding, Gadar, Baghban, Zubeida, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 1& 2, Indian Summers (Channel 4 UK), & many others, both national and international, and has acted in over 50 plays from Brecht to the Bard. She has won multiple Best Actress awards for her plays and films in National & International Festivals.

AANCHAL KAPUR

FESTIVAL JURY - DOCUMENTARY

Aanchal Kapur is a firm believer that documentary films are a medium for social change. She loves to facilitate film screening discussions between filmmakers and audience, to enable thinking and action around the content of documentary cinema. She is the founder of Kriti Film Club, a one-of-its-kind 23-year old, independent documentary screening initiative. She curates and organises documentary screenings all over India and online via Doculive.in Aanchal has been closely involved (as curator and jury) with film festivals such as the PSBT Open Frame, IAWRT, Jeevika, Dharamsala, Vibgyor, Auroville Film Festival, Habitat Film Festival, Beyond Borders Feminist Film Festival and others.

NANDAN SAXENA

Nandan Saxena is a three times National Award winning independent Filmmaker and Director of Photography with over 40 films to his credit. He tells stories of strong yet vulnerable characters from rural and aboriginal communities... recording echoes of gender-specific struggles set against the backdrop of environmental challenges, human rights issues or the agrarian crisis. He has mentored filmmakers and cinematographers from their skill-sharing platform ‘Quark Workshops’ – offering more than 60 workshops since 2007 – in India, London, Singapore and Australia.

SHANTI BHUSHAN ROY

Shanti Bhushan Roy is an Indian Filmmaker, Cinematographer, Motion Picture Consultant & Educator. Known for his passion and craftsmanship, he has worked on dozens of feature films, non-fiction films, documentaries, TV programs, music videos, TV commercials & Bollywood musicals. His filmography includes Oscar shortlisted Ballad of Rustom, Wedding Anniversary, Shuttlecock Boys & Humne Gandhi Ko Maar Diya, Rubaru Roshni, #Shout, Partners Crime & TV program Satyamev Jayate. A former software engineer, he is an alumnus of prestigious Film and Television Institute of India-Pune.

ATIKA CHOHAN

FESTIVAL JURY - STUDENT SHORTS

Widely known for penning Bollywood’s most progressive, inclusive, and unflinching stories, screenwriter Atika Chohan won immense critical acclaim for co-writing Chapaak, a film based on the life of acid attack survivor Laxmi. Her stellar work includes Margarita with a Straw (2015) and Waiting, with the former bagging a National Award, among many other laurels. She worked for Guilty, a Netflix original produced by Karan Johar. Her trademark filmography makes use of powerful plots and exceptional characters to give life to human stories. Her upcoming projects include Agra, selected to be screened in the Director’s Fortnight at Cannes 2023, and Knot, an Indian International project coproduced by Dev Patel.

RUCHA PATHAK

Rucha Pathak, joined Excel Entertainment as a Producer after her 6-year stint as Chief Creative Officer at Fox Star Studios in 2020. She set up a robust film and development pipeline at Fox Star Studios with Neerja, Jolly LLB 2, Phillauri, India’s Most Wanted, Chhapaak and Panga among other films. Her recent films include Lootcase and Dil Bechara which aired on Disney + Hotstar in 2020. She has a list of extremely successful and critically acclaimed films to her credit, Barfi, ABCD - Anybody Can dance, Paan Singh Tomar, Chillar Party, No One Killed Jessica, Dev D, Welcome to Sajjanpur among others.

SAMARTH MAHAJAN

Samarth Mahajan is a non-fiction filmmaker, passionate about telling human stories that remain invisible to the mainstream. His work includes two national award-winning films - the latest feature Borderlands explores lives defined by India’s borders, and the 2017 film The Unreserved captures stories from the general compartments of Indian Railways. Recognized by IIT Kharagpur as a Young Alumni Achiever, Samarth’s commercial collaborations include brands like Vice Studios, Applause Entertainment, and Discovery+.

FESTIVAL JURYRIYAD WADIA AWARD

Nargis Wadia was the first woman to launch a full–service Advertising Agency in India – Interpub, and was also a Founder Member & Chairperson of Media Monitoring Services which preceded the establishment of Media Research Users Council. In 1991, she became the first woman President of the Advertising Agency Association of India. Nargis Wadia is the mother of late filmmaker Riyad Wadia in whose memory the Riyad Wadia Award for Emerging Indian Filmmaker has been instituted at KASHISH by Wadia Movietone.

Roy Wadia hails from the Wadia Movietone family. His brother was the late filmmaker and gay activist Riyad Wadia (Fearless: The Hunterwali Story, BOMgAY ). Roy worked at CNN for 12 years, and then switched careers by joining the World Health Organisation’s China office as its communications and advocacy officer. From 2010-2013, he was Executive Director of Heroes Project, the Bombay-based HIV NGO. Roy currently is with the United Nations in Denmark. He is the brother of Riyad Wadia.

FESTIVAL JURYISMAT CHUGHTAI AWARD

Ashish Sawhny has been directing & producing over 25 years, across varied disciplines such as Advertising, Digital, Documentaries, Ethnography. Recently, Ashish was ‘Series Director’ for Netflix’s documentary series- The Big Day, which hit #1 in India, and was trending across the UK & US. Ashish has associated with KASHISH since its inception with many of his documentaries being screened, as a panel host and preview team member. With a focus on gender, sexuality and lifestyle, Ashish also regularly writes, acts, is practicing as a mental health counsellor with a focus on queer clients, and is hosting his own podcast as well.

Wendell Rodricks International Poster Contest

Started by the couture designer Wendell Rodricks in 2012 , post his demise continued now in his memory by his partner Jérôme Marrel, the KASHISH 2023 Wendell Rodricks International Poster Contest invited artists and graphic designers across the world to participate in designing the official festival poster.  The poster contest offers a cash award of Rs.25,000 (approx. US$300) and a KASHISH Butterfly trophy. The winning design is the look of KASHISH 2023 and is featured on all the branding elements for this edition.

This year Jérôme Marrel, husband of late Wendell Rodricks, along with six of Wendell’s friends unanimously, without consulting each other, selected the winning design. The winner they chose is Tanishka Jain, a student at ITM Institute of Design and Media, Mumbai.

I liked the theme of this year KASHISH 2023, ‘Be Fluid, Be You!’ as it is very much in line with Wendell’s thinking. We all felt the fluidity through the boat ride towards being us, represented by the LGBTQ colors of the sea, is the perfect representation of this year’s theme.

As an artist, it’s so fascinating to pour all your thoughts and imagination on a canvas and let others be a part of your own beautiful little story. This win was not at all expected because as much as I like working, I overthink about my designs a lot too. So this really is a big accomplishment for me and I’m more than grateful for being chosen to receive this esteemed award. Thanks a lot to the jury members and KASHISH Film Fest for recognising my work.

Tanishka Jain

PINE CONE*

Dir: Onir

105 min | 2023 | India | Hindi | World Premiere

Pine Cone features three stories from the life of filmmaker Sid Mehra, as he negotiates relationships in his search for love. The stories are in reverse chronological order – 2019, 2009, and 1999. A human being is a human being, and love is love, and Sid while proudly gay, is not defined by it. It is about a man who refuses to apologise for who he is, a man determined to live life in full – the prejudices of the world be damned!

Onir is a national award winning Indian filmmaker, producer, screenwriter and editor. He debut film My Brother...Nikhil (2005) is considered to be one of the first mainstream Hindi films to have the lead protagonist as Gay. He won the Indian National Film awards for Best Film (Hindi) for the anthology I AM in 2011.Onir has received the Diversity Award from Film Victoria Australia and La Trobe University at IFFM 2019. His latest film Pine Cone, which is his seventh fiction feature, is loosely based on his biography I Am Onir and I Am Gay published by Penguin Viking.

*Filmmaker & Key Cast in Attendance

Onir

Short Films Package

Be Fluid, Be You!

Total Duration: 76 min

A mixed package of fictional and real life stories about non-binary, non-confirming people, how they confront familial and societal trauma with humility, understanding, and manage to transform their lives for the better. Much like our theme this year!

LITTLE SKY

Dir: Jess X. Snow

14 min | 2021 | Canada, USA | English, Mandarin Chinese, Yue Chinese (Cantonese) | Narrative Short | Asian Premiere

A non-binary Chinese-American drag sensation, Sky, returns to their hometown to confront their estranged father about the childhood memories that used to haunt them.

Wo Chan, a non-binary, queer Fujianese drag performer and poet, living in Brooklyn plays the title role.

Dir: Ekkachai Sukhontaman

21 min | 2022 | Thailand | English, Thai | Narrative Short | Mumbai Premiere

DxD is a group of diversity idols. Before they came to success, they had to encounter many obstacles due to their gender. However, they have proven to everyone that no matter what gender you are, you should be able to follow your dreams.

BOXED IN (Le poids des cases)

Dir: Coline Stell

18 min | 2022 | France | French | Narrative Short | Asian Premiere

The day Lou, a young lesbian wakes up next to a man, her world turns upside down.

BUDDISTANDQUEER: THEIR PATH FROM SAREES TO ROBES

Dir: Daniel Sanchez-Lopez

23 min | 2020 | India, Spain | English, Hindi, Telugu | Docu Short | Asian Premiere

Tashi, a young queer activist in India, renounces their sexuality and wearing sarees, to take on Buddhist robes. Flagging both their queer gender and their faith, they push ahead with the fight for LGBTQI+ rights in the turbulent oceans of current scenario.

Short Films Package

International Narrative Shorts Competition 1

Total Duration: 78 min

KASHISH 2023 is excited to present 5 films from Peru, Portugal, USA, Ireland and Jordan as part of the International Narrative Shorts Competition 1 program.

ALONE (Sola)

Dir: Séneca Claudia Dávalos

15 min | 2023 | Peru | Quechua, Spanish | World Premiere

After showing herself as she is, Luisa, who’s dedicated to crest traditional Andean textiles, is rejected by her nephew and her whole town. This leads to a series of events that will make her choose between recovering the only family bond she’s got left or choose herself in the process.

AN AVOCADO PIT (Um Caroço de Abacate)

Dir: Ary Zara

20 min | 2022 | Portugal | Portuguese | Asian Premiere

Larissa, a trans woman and Cláudio, a cis man, meet one night, in the streets of Lisbon. Two people, two realities, who dance their differences away till morning light. In challenge, in surprise, in awe and in recognition. An empowering story, free from violence and filled with light and hope for the better days yet to come.

HONEY & MILK

Dir: Dash Donato

14 min | 2023 | USA | English | International Premiere

As their 13-year relationship ends, Grayson and Alice spend a final weekend together to mourn, celebrate, and dismantle their domestic life before Grayson embarks on a journey of gender expansion.

LAMBING

Dir: Katie McNeice

18 min | 2022 | Ireland | English | Asian Premiere

A young dad in rural Ireland must face his anxiety around gender and bullying when his baby is born intersex. In modern-day rural Ireland, David meditates on his own childhood the day before his son is born. He is so haunted by his father bullying him for being weak and effeminate on the family farm that he now doubts his own abilities as a father.

OUR MALES AND FEMALES (Wa Thakarina Wa Unthana)

Dir: Ahmad Alyaseer

11 min | 2022 | Jordan | Arabic | Asian Premiere

A father and mother are faced with the painful task of washing and shrouding their deceased transgender daughter. Shrouding is an Islamic religious practice that is deemed obligatory to carry out upon death. But when no one agrees to wash her and shame falls onto the family, how far is the father willing to go to make sure his "son" is washed?

Short Films Package

Indian Masala Mix 1

Total Duration: 57 min

The first part of this year’s Indian short films package showcases five films about various relationships and connections one builds with friends, families, and partners - or even with strangers; that can change or challenge lives of the people in question.

MANU

Dir: Shinku C.

18 min | 2021 | India | English, Hindi |

Mumbai Premiere

Manu is an introverted, repressed boy who loves art, and belongs to a middle-class religious family in India. On this particular day, a series of events brings him finally to confront himself, and in the end, leaves him in a dilemma to bring the change in his life or not.

Dir: Kapil Joshi

6 min | 2022 | India | Hindi | Indian Premiere

It's a story of two souls who want to live happily ever after and want to blend in with the crowd.

LAVISHKA

Dir: Pinaki Janardhan

18 min | 2022 | India | Kannada |

A film, which is as simple as just two primary characters talking throughout, is led by an Idea that, these two characters will never be seen together in any of the frames. Their love story unfolds in cafes, over long drives in cars, etc.

Dir: Anisha Sharma

15 min | 2023 | India | English, Hindi |

World Premiere

In Ismat Chughtai Award Competition

Liberty

Karan is a transman, who recently had a gender affirmation surgery and something as trivial as going to the beach shirtless has been a dream and an act of liberation for him.

2.45 PM

BLUE FLOWER (STRIVING FOR THE IMPOSSIBLE)*

Neelo Phool (Dusadhay maathiko prayaas)

40 min | 2023 | Nepal | Nepalese | Featurette | Indian Premiere

Tilak is a gentle and reserved young man. His elder brother is married with a child. Tilak’s mother forces him to marry Urmila, a school-teacher. Despite their challenging context, the couple become friendly. One day, Urmila happens to meet social workers from Kathmandu who inform her about sexual and gender minorities. Tilak eventually moves to the capital to work with that NGO.

*Filmmaker & Key Cast in Attendance

Followed By

Short Films Package

KASHISH QDrishti 2022 Shorts*

Total Duration: 36 min

*Cast and Crew in Attendance

Since 2016, KASHISH QDrishti Film Grant sponsored by Lotus Visual Productions has been a consistent platform helping the emerging filmmakers to make their first or next LGBTQ+ themed film. Till date EIGHT Indian LGBTQ+ short films have been able to shine on screen through this grant.

Dir: Sunil Babu Pant, Pradhumna Mishra

To give more visibility and access to Indian queer filmmakers, from 2021 this grant has been made specifically available to directors of Indian origin based in India, who identify as a LGBTQ+ person. A Jury panel comprising of the film industry professionals select the most viable project on the basis of the scripts and live pitching by the filmmakers.

In 2022, the grant has been increased to Rs.2,50,000 by Lotus Visual Production. Renowned actress Renuka Shahane supports it with an additional grant of Rs 50,000 each for the two Runner-ups. The presented two films are made with the support of this grant, awarded last year.

MALWA KHUSHAN

Dir: Preeti Kanungo

(Runner-up KASHISH QDrishti Film Grant'22)

20 min | 2023 | India | Hindi |

Narrative Short | World Premiere

In Ismat Chughtai Award Competition

In Riyad Wadia Award Competition

Coming of age story about two sisters Malwa and Khushan exploring and experiencing sexuality and attraction in their adolescent years. Khushan looks up to Malwa for her outspoken nature and courage. Soon a new girl arrives at their school for a short period of time and Khushan begins to develop feelings for her.

TAPS

Dir: Arvind Caulagi

(Winner KASHISH QDrishti Film Grant'22)

17 min | 2023 | India | English |

Narrative Short | World Premiere

In Riyad Wadia Award Competition

A simple misunderstanding puts Akshay and Rohan’s domestic idyll on shaky grounds. Set over the course of an evening, Taps offers an intimate look at how the couple navigates their way back to each other.

Short Films Package

Matters of Heart

Total Duration: 96 min

A package of five poignant stories from across the LGBTQ+ spectrum, covering a variety of themes like mental health, adoption, selfdiscovery, families and finding love at the ‘fag’ end!

PLACE

Dir: Sophie Black

14 min | 2022 | United Kingdom | English | Asian Premiere

Set within the confines of her hotel room, forty-something Evelyn embarks on a journey of self-discovery with Cleo, a younger woman who exudes the kind of confidence Evelyn has only dreamed of. They share a drink, a smile, an instant connection, and an unforgettable night that Evelyn cannot ignore nor fully encompass.

Dir: Benjamin Colbourne

8 min | 2023 | United Kingdom | English | World Premiere

Liam discovers true love at the height of the pandemic, finding colour in a previously colourless world.

*Filmmaker in Attendance

HAPPY

RETIREMENT MR. PICKERING

Dir: Keshav Shree

20 min | 2022 | United Kingdom |

English | World Premiere

Liberty

After 30 years at a white-collared job an introverted man is thrown into the isolation of retirement. This resurfaces obsessive desires. He must either come out to his iron-willed wife or continue an unfulfilled marriage of 35 years.

LOOK LIKE YOU

Dir: Snigdha Kapoor

13 min | 2022 | USA | English |

Mumbai Premiere

While visiting the adoptive family of her eightyear-old biological son, Tara overcomes the hesitation of his parents to relay advice she gathered from growing up as a queer outcast.

LOVE LINGERS

(Amar Nunca Seca)

Dir: Washington Calegari

23 min | 2022 | Brazil | Portuguese | Mumbai Premiere

Isolated at home, Jonas reflects on his relationship with his boyfriend and best friend, who are hospitalized during the pandemic.

JOYLAND

Dir: Saim Sadiq

126 min | 2022 | Pakistan, USA | Punjabi, Urdu | Narrative Feature

As the happily patriarchal Rana family craves for the birth of a baby boy, the youngest of the Rana men secretly joins as a backup dancer in a Bollywood-style burlesque and quickly becomes infatuated with the strongwilled trans woman who runs the show. Their impossible love story slowly illuminates the entire Rana family’s desire for a sexual rebellion.

The first Pakistani film to screen at Cannes, Joyland was also shortlisted for Academy Awards 2023 as Pakistan’s official entry.

Festivals & Honors:

• Jury Prize Un Certain Regard - Cannes Film Festival, 2022

• Winner Queer Palm - Cannes Film Festival, 2022

• Winner Best Indie Film - Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, 2022

• Winner Best Screenplay - Athens International Film Festival, 2022

• Winner Young Cinema Award - Asia Pacific Screen Awards, 2022

• Winner Independent Spirit Award for Best International Film, 2023

• Winner Directors to Watch - Palm Springs Int'l Film Festival, 2023

• Winner New Direction Competition - Cleveland Int'l Film Festival, 2023

Saim Sadiq is a Pakistani screenwriter and director with a background in anthropology. His earlier documentary work was showcased by various national networks on television, went viral on social media in Pakistan, and was featured by BBC's Free Speech Stories. His first short film Pasban screened at numerous festivals around the globe. His next short Nice Talking to You was awarded Vimeo's Best Director along with five other awards at the 2018 Columbia University thesis film showcase.

Saim Sadiq

SOMETHING YOU SAID LAST NIGHT

96 min | 2022 | Canada, Switzerland | English, Italian | Narrative Feature | Asian Premiere

Ren (played by trans actor Carmen Madonia), an aspiring writer and midtwenty-something, accompanies her parents, Mona and Guido, and her younger sister, Siena, on a beach resort holiday in cottage country. As Ren navigates the resort, she struggles to cope with her parents’ loving yet overbearing nature, and tries to balance the yearning for independence with the comfort of being taken care of. The realities of being a stunted millennial and a trans woman coalesce in Ren not wanting to be perceived as a burden. Looming in the back of Ren’s mind is the secret of her recent dismissal from work, and that once the holiday is over, she will need to rely even more on her family’s support.

Festivals & Honors:

• Winner - the Changemaker Award- Toronto Int'l Film Festival, 2022

• San Sebastián Film Festival, 2022

• Vancouver International Film Festival, 2022

• Nominated for the Directors Guild of Canada's 2022 Jean-Marc Vallée DGC Discovery Award

Luis De Filippis is a Canadian-Italian filmmaker whose work has played at festivals such as TIFF, Rotterdam, and Sundance where her most recent work, For Nonna Anna received a Special Jury Prize.

Luis’ debut feature, Something You Said Last Night, had its world premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. Luis' films explore the complexities of family, the bond between generations, and the realities of living as a transwoman. Through her work with The Trans Film Mentorship, Luis uplifts the voices of other trans filmmakers.

Luis De Fili

Dir: Luis De Fili

Liberty

Short Films Package

Docu Panorama 2

Total Duration: 59 min

A cross-continental curated package of short documentary films highlighting the vibrancy, passion, determination and hope of the Trans* community, through the work and lives of its three proud members.

SEAN DORSEY DANCE: DREAMING TRANS AND QUEER FUTURES

Dir: Lindsay Gauthier

10 min | 2022 | USA | English | Asian Premiere

This visually-exquisite short is a fusion of dance film and documentary, and a powerful profile of trailblazing transgender choreographer and activist Sean Dorsey. Dorsey uplifts the beauty, power, wisdom and grace of bodies and voices, and works tirelessly to support other trans/LGBTQI+ artists.

DIVA*

Dir: Nicolas Cilins

29 min | 2022 | Vietnam | Vietnamese | Mumbai Premiere

Diva Cat Thy is a transwoman who sells noodles on the streets of Saigon, Vietnam. She posts videos everyday on social media. The film is made out of this found footage, and entangles her story with the ones of the filmmaker and the translator.

*Filmmaker in Attendance

Dir: Shiva Raichandani

20 min | 2022 | United Kingdom | English | Asian Premiere

ALWAYS, ASIFA Liberty

As Asifa prepares to finally undergo gender affirmation surgery, the disabled trans activist, who is also Britain’s first out Muslim drag queen, reflects on how her life has - and hasn’t - changed during her transition.

Liberty

Short Films Package

Celebrating Diversity

Total Duration: 72 min

Presented here are three real-life stories from three Indian states about survival, acceptance and resilience of the LGBTQ+ community members!

*Filmmakers in attendance. Film program will be followed by Q&A.

A PEARL IN

THE OCEAN

Dir: Vasundhara Jadhav

13 | India | 2022 | Bengali, English, Hindi | World Premiere

Video profile of Tushar Roy, a young, confident gender-fluid person from West Bengal aspiring to be a renowned dancer, particularly as a belly dancer.

AANGAN 'A BLOOMING

Dir: Shiv Priya

SPACE'

In the world of insensitivity and insecurity, a new generation of LGBTQI+ community members especially transgenders is flourishing in the courtyard of their Maai (Mother) or Pushpa maai, a transgender activist and the founder of Nai Bhor organization in the pink city Jaipur.

RAJA BRO

Dir: Sridhar Rangayan

25 min | 2023 | India | Hindi | Marathi | Mumbai Premiere

The film is a sensitive heart-warming story of an Indian transman’s acceptance, by himself and his family. Merlin, born as a girl, felt right from his childhood that he was trapped in the wrong gender. But it took a lot of courage and determination for Merlin to transition to become a transman.

MY PARTNER

118 min | 2022 | USA | English, Hawaiian, Tagalog | Narrative Feature | International Premiere

Edmar, a high-achieving Filipino student, and Pili, a Native Hawaiian student athlete standout, are part of rival groups at Lahainaluna High School. The two sides clash when Edmar’s group is caught overfishing a native species in a restored freshwater stream by Pili’s group. When Edmar and Pili are assigned to work on a project together, they strongly protest, but eventually come to better understand each other’s cultures — the demands and limitations Edmar and his friends face as working-class Filipino immigrants, and the intergenerational cultural erasure and physical dispossession of Hawaii’s native people that Pili and his friends struggle with.

Festivals & Honors:

• Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, USA, 2023

Keli'i Grace is a Director, Cinematographer and Editor. Often dubbed as “Visual Translator” for his innate ability to bring to life the soul of a story, Grace imparts a feeling to each moment in a raw and authentic way. His works reveal his resonant understanding of Hawaiian culture, and he is most proud of the work he has done that shares his culture with those outside the state of Hawai'i. His short films Reverence (2019) and Ala Moana Boys (2021) both premiered at the Hawai'i International Film Festival and screened at several international festivals. My Partner is his debut feature film, which is also the first Hawaiian feature film about gay love.

Keli'i Grace

Dir: Keli'i Grace

Liberty

Liberty

BABY QUEEN*

In Competition

61 min | 2022 | Singapore | English, Malay, Mandarin Chinese | Documentary Feature | Indian Premiere

Baby Queen illuminates the struggles and joys of becoming who you want to be, and what it means to carve out a safe space in a society that is at times cruel to those who are different. Candid and clear-eyed in its portrayal of queer life, the film celebrates radical self-acceptance as a personal yet deeply political act. The film has been screened at renowned festivals worldwide including the 27th Busan International Film Festival in South Korea, the 33rd Singapore International Film Festival, and the Visions du Réel 2023 in Nyon, Switzerland.

*Key cast in attendance. Film program will be followed by Q&A.

Festivals & Honors:

• Festivals & Honors:

• Busan International Film Festival 2022

• Singapore International Film Festival 2022

• Vision du Reel, Switzerland 2023

Yuan Bin Lei is a director, editor and cinematographer and the founder of the 13 Little Pictures film collective. He is known for 03-FLATS (2014), which competed in Busan; and I Dream of Singapore (2019), which premiered at the Berlinale. His fifth feature, Baby Queen, premiered at Busan.

Yuan Bin Lei

Dir: Yuan Bin Lei

LIE WITH ME

In Competition

98 min | 2022 | France | French | Narrative Feature Indian Premiere

Upon agreeing to be the brand ambassador for a famous cognac celebrating their bicentennial, novelist Stéphane Belcourt returns to his hometown for the first time in many years. Once there, he meets his first love’s son, Lucas. Memories come rushing back to him: irrepressible attraction, bodies becoming one in the heat of desire, a passion that can never be revealed… His first love’s name was Thomas. They were 17. The film is a captivating adaptation of Philippe Besson's critically acclaimed, autobiographical novel, Arrête Avec Tes Mensonges, originally published in France by Editions Julliard in 2017.

Festivals & Honors:

• Angoulême Francophone Film Festival, France 2022

• The American French Film Festival, USA 2022

• ImageOut: Rochester LGBT Film Festival, USA 2022

• BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival 2023

• The Alliance Française French Film Festival, Australia 2023

• Istanbul Film Festival, Turkey 2023

• Lovers Film Festival, Turin, Italy 2023

Olivier Peyon is a French screenwriter and film director, who started translated English-language films for French distribution. He started out with the short film Promis, juré (1996), followed by Jingle Bells (1997), selected for the 54th Venice Film Festival, Claquage après étirements (2000), and À tes amours (2001), awarded at New York City, Gardanne, Luchon and La Ciotat. His first feature film Stolen Holidays (Les Petites Vacances), was released in 2007, and his second feature film How I Came to Hate Math (Comment j'ai détesté les maths) was released in French theaters in November 2013. It was nominated for best documentary at the CESAR 2014 (the French equivalent of the Oscars).

Marcelo Gomes

Dir: Olivier PEYON

Liberty

MAJA MA*

Pallavi Patel is the quintessential, middle aged, devoted housewife who is equally famous for her dance as she is for her cooking. The family bonds are tested when a rumour about her, threatens to disrupt her middle-class family’s ethos, on the eve of her son Tejas’ engagement with a rich, NRI girl.

*Cast & Crew in Attendance. Film program will be followed by Q&A.

Anand Tiwari is an actor, writer and director. With vast experience in the world of films, advertising and theatre, Anand Tiwari has created a niche for himself in the entertainment industry and has shown his acting prowess in path-breaking movies like Detective Byomkesh Bakshi, Go Goa Gone, Dishikiyoon, Aisha, Udaan and Nail Polish. Anand’s directorial debut feature film Love Per Square Foot, which was also written by him is India’s first Hindi feature film release on Netflix. A musical series for Amazon originals titled Bandish Bandits, for which Anand also took the helm of directing the show went on to become one of the most talked about musical shows on the streaming service.

134 min | 2022 | India | Hindi | Narrative Feature

Anand Tiwari

Dir: Anand Tiwari

PREJUDICE & PRIDE — SWEDISH FILM QUEER

100 min | 2022 | Sweden | Swedish | Documentary Feature | Indian Premiere

A dizzying journey through Swedish film history seen from a queer perspective! The filmmakers have thawed films from the Film Archive’s freezer and marveled at the depictions of flats, gays and transgender people for more than 100 years. From Mauritz Stiller’s silent movie, The Wings (1916), the first major film about male love; via Ingmar Bergman and Mai Zetterling to the exciting new wave of Scandinavian transgender films, Beling’s fascinating documentary takes us from 1916 to today, exploring the confidence, secrecy and rebirth of queer storytelling in Swedish cinema.

Crammed with clips, interviews and historical analysis, this is one documentary every film lover should put at the top of their must-see list.

Festivals & Honors:

• Umeå European Film Festival, Sweden 2022

• Seattle Queer Film Festival, USA 2022

• 15th Beijing Queer Film Festival, China 2022

• IndieLisboa – International Film Festival, Portugal 2023

• Roze Filmdagen Amsterdam, Netherlands 2023

• BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival 2023

Eva Beling is a Swedish/American Director and Producer with a BA from San Francisco State University. Among her major productions are The Women and Bergman (2007) and The Men and Bergman (2008) where several prominent Swedish actors discuss their work with Bergman in film and theater. A two-part tv-series, A Life With Cinema (2011) about Sweden’s legendary film critic Mr. Nils Petter Sundgren who has followed the world cinema since 1963. Prejudice & Pride -Swedish Film Queer is her first feature length documentary.

Eva Belin

Dir: Eva Belin

(Fördom & Stolthet – en queer filmhistoria)

Liberty

Short Films Package

Indian Masala Mix 2

Total Duration: 60 min

The journey to acceptance – whether by self or by others, is never free from road blocks. Some road blocks are visible and some are imaginary! To clear such blocks one needs to identify them first. This is what the second part of Indian Masala Mix intends to do through three Indian narrative shorts. Sit tight and see if you can spot those road blocks – within self, or around!

PHOBHAIYYA

Dir: Ritwik Mukherjee

8 min | 2022 | India | Hindi

A middle-aged watchman is in quandary. He has fallen in love with someone from a different religion and wonders now if his family will accept it.

JAAYAZ (Rightful)

Dir: Pratap Horde

16 min | 2023| India | Hindi | World Premiere

In Riyad Wadia Award Competition

Saatvik and Varadh are in a live-in relationship. Varadh never even openly acknowledges that they are more than flatmates. This disturbs Saatvik a great deal constantly and questions his rightful place in Varadh’s life!

*Filmmakers in attendance. Film program will be followed by Q&A.

ROAD BLOCKED AHEAD

(Le poids des cases)

Dir: Akanksha

31 min | 2022 | India | English | Mumbai Premiere

In Ismat Chughtai Award Competition

Liberty

On her way to a Saputara fort for an ad film shoot, a professional cinematographer Ayesha’s car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, when Meera, a local who helps her and gives her company till the time Ayesha’s car gets fixed.

Short Films Package

Student Shorts Competition 2

Total Duration: 87 min

Presented here are four short films made by film & media school students, competing for the Best Student Short Award with a cash prize of Rs. 25,000 supported by Whistling Woods International, and a KASHISH Golden Butterfly Trophy.

Dir: David Amberg

7 min | 2022 | USA | English | Asian Premiere

Two years after a gaybashing, Michael and Alex are still feeling the aftershocks in their relationship. Things continue to get complicated, as Michael’s dissociations start becoming reality.

Media School: University of Southern California, USA

SOFT SIGN* (סימן רכות)

Dir: Victoria Uchitel

24 min | 2022 | Israel | Hebrew | International Premiere

Natalie and her friend Amir, a director, are engaged in art and identity. As they work on a TV report about the upcoming '96 elections, two young immigrants offer new insight as possibilities arise.

Media School: The Steve Tisch School of Film and Television, Tel Aviv University, Israel

*Filmmaker in Attendance

GOODBYE AGAIN

Dir: Dwaipayan Mazumder

(ধুলো�োয় রইলো�ো ঢ ো ক ো) Liberty

The film explores several layers of a complex relationship between two friends who happens to coincidentally meet in a party after a long separation.

Media School: ILead - Dept. of Media & Journalism, India

ROOTED

Dir: Yi-wei Wu

A teenager is saved by a lifeguard due to a misunderstanding of nearly drowning, which subsequently brings to light long-restrained desires in his heart. As a result, he hopes for a different ending to his summer vacation.

Media School: Shih Hsin University, Taiwan

RUNS IN THE FAMILY

In competition

107 min| 2022 | South Africa | English | Narrative Feature | Asian Premiere

When modest tailor and single Indian dad, Varun, is called to break his long-lost white ex-girlfriend, Monica, out of a rehab clinic across the country, he and their transgender son, River (Trans* actor & writer, Gabe Gabriel), take a road trip across South Africa to rescue her. Tensions are high as the dysfunctional new family unit adjusts on their way back home where River is set to compete with his best friend, Ollie (black, queer, non-binary actor Cleo Wesley), in a once-in-a-lifetime drag competition that could win him his longawaited gender-affirming surgery, so long as no con artists from Varun and Monica’s wild past with their old friend and mafia man Stan get in their way.

Festivals & Honors:

• World Premiere - Inside Out Film Festival, 2023

Ian Gabriel was the first director of colour to open an independent, director owned film production company in South Africa. His debut feature Forgiveness won the Best South African Film Award and the Best African Film Award, and Ian was a recipient of the Human Rights Award at the 57th Locarno International Film. His feature project Four Corners was the South African Official Submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards, and won numerous awards including winning Golden Horn Awards at the 2015 SAFTA Awards. Ian has collaborated with celebrity talents as diverse as human rights icon and activist Nelson Mandela and Nobel Peace Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, celebrities such as Charlize Theron and Cristiano Ronaldo. Ian’s son Gabe Gabriel is the writer and lead actor of the film Runs in the Family.

Ian Gabriel

Dir: Ian Gabriel

LAILAA MANJU*

Dir: Kamya N

53 min | India | 2022 |

Hindi, Marathi |

Featurette |

Mumbai Premiere

On a slow, hot day during Mumbai's first COVID-19 lockdown, 21-year-old Manju sets out to apologize to her best friend and the love of her life, Lailaa. She has to re-affirm their love — and avoid a conversation with her formidable mother, who's discovered the truth about the two young women, at all costs.

*Cast & Crew in Attendance Film program will be followed by Q&A.

Preceded By

KISS *

Dir: Varun Grover

17 min | 2022 | India | Hindi |

Narrative Short

At a preview theatre, a young filmmaker waits in the hope of getting his new sci-fi drama certified with 'no cuts' by the conservative men of the Indian Censor Board. As the filmmaker and board members argue over the length of a kissing scene in the film, the laws of physics disintegrate around them.

*Cast & Crew in Attendance Film program will be followed by Q&A.

In Ismat Chughtai Award Competition

Liberty

EK JAGAH APNI*

In competition

88 min | 2022 | India | Hindi | Narrative Feature | Mumbai Premiere

Laila and Roshni (played by Trans* actors Manisha Soni and Muskaan) are looking for a house after they are evicted from the place they rented. It soon becomes evident that their search for a home is also their ongoing search for a place in this society that wants to keep them away in a section that cannot be the center. They have a friend in Sharukh, but many of their other interactions don’t turn out as expected. Laila is torn between being true to herself and preserving links with the family she was born into. Meanwhile, Roshni treads a fine line between concealing her identity and living the life that she wants but it is not without its dangers. As the search for a home continues, it transcends physical spaces and biological bonds. New friendships blossom, and help comes from unexpected quarters.

*Cast & Crew in Attendance. Film program will be followed by Q&A.

Festivals & Honors:

• World Premiere - 35th Tokyo International Film Festival, Japan

• 27th International Film Festival of Kerala, Trivandrum, India

• Queer Screen's 30th Mardi Gras Film Festival, Sydney, Australia

• 37th BFI Flare London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival, United Kingdom

• 13th Indian Film Festival of Bhubaneswar, India 2023

• Audience Award Winner– SXSW Film & TV Festival, Austin, Texas, USA, 2023

Ektara Collective is a film making collective based in Bhopal, India; comprises of trained and untrained people from diverse backgrounds and identities who come together and collaborate to make independent cinema that is located in our realities and experiences. There earlier films have been Chanda Ke Joote (2011), Jaadui Machchhi (2013), Turup (2017) and Hotel Raahgir (2020).

Dir: Ektara Collective

Ektara Collective

Liberty

SATYA THE TRUTH*

112 min | 2022 | India | Assamese | Narrative Feature | World Premiere

Satya, a smart, educated & cultured small-town young man falls in love with a reputed, matured businessman Amar, in the city of Guwahati in Assam. They try to keep their relationship a secret, but they fail. Assamese society being conservative, Satya’s family is against this relationship. Even Amar buckled under his own family’s pressure and deserts Satya, who is devastated. He can only find solace in his childhood friend Samir.

* Filmmaker in attendance. Film program will be followed by Q&A.

Rupjyoti Borthakur

Rupjyoti Borthakur, a Post Graduate Diploma holder in Journalism & Mass Communication, has directed independently plenty of Assamese T.V. serials, Teleplays & documentaries namely Balimahir Kotha, Putola Nach, Today For Tomorrow, Rudra Binar Taan, Aranyar Seuj Xon, Dodhisi, Maya Prantor. He has worked as Program Producer and Program Head in three Assamese satellite News Channel ‘Ishan News’, ‘News Time Assam’ and ‘Assam Talks’ respectively. He also worked as an Administrative Officer in an NGO named ‘ASCED’ which dealt with awareness and control of AIDS in Assam. Presently he is a freelance film activist and a social activist for various causes in society and stands firmly for the rights of LGBTQIA community in Assam. Satya The Truth is his directorial debut feature film.

Dir: Rupjyoti Borthakur

OLD NARCISSUS*

110 min | 2022 | Japan |

Japanese | Narrative Feature |

Asian Premiere

A septuagenarian, picture book writer named Yamazaki, having been handsome as a young man, grown narcissistic of his beauty. But now, can’t bear his own aging. One night, Yamazaki meets a young and lonely sex worker, Leo and for the first time in his long tumultuous life, falls in love with another person. Through this love, he finally comes to terms with and begins to forge the relationships he failed to carve during his youth with his friends and family.

KASHISH alumnus Tsuyoshi Shoji returns to the festival with his debut feature film about this cross-generation love story highlighting the unfair circumstances that LGBT individuals face in Japan that go beyond issues such as marriage inequality.

* Filmmaker in attendance. Film program will be followed by Q&A.

Festivals & Honors:

• World Premiere–39th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, USA 2023

• 47th Frameline: San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival, USA  2023

Tsuyoshi Shoji started to make movies as video artist activities when he was a student of Musashino Art University, and he got the Special Jury Prize with Lost in the Garden in the Tokyo International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival in 1995. He made Old Narcissus (2017) as an independent short film which was screened in more than 8 countries and got 10 awards in film festivals. For his next short film The Fish with One Sleeve (2021), he cast transgender actors in the lead, after carrying out open audition for transgender actors, which was the first time in Japan. The Fish with One Sleeve has won many awards including the Jury Special Mention and the Best Performance in a Lead Role for Yu Ishizuka at KASHISH 2022.

Dir: Tsuyoshi Shoji

Tsuyoshi Shoji

Short Films Package

Two Of Us

Total Duration: 74 min

An amusing collection of seven short films about couples, exlovers, friends or just strangers; the relationships they had in the past, or the connections they wish to make… or the bridges that are being burnt now!

THE LAST ANOMALY

Dir: Hamish Downie

6 min | 2022 | Australia | English |

Animation Short | Asian Premiere

Daniel takes on The Entity in a battle of wits to save his partner from an eternity in Hell.

THE TREE (Treet)

Dir: Ida Hansen Eldøen

14 min | 2023 | Norway | Norwegian | Narrative Short | World Premiere

Rebecca finds herself fighting off her exgirlfriend Vivian, who has turned up to claim the apple tree they had planted in Rebecca’s backyard.

ROMAN YOUTH!* (Romana Gioventù!)

Dir: Federico Cianferoni

11 min | 2022 | Italy | Italian | Narrative Short | Asian Premiere

Luke is a millennial that wants to make films, but he can’t. He can’t break down his mental barriers and he can’t find a place in a society where film making is not even accepted as a job. Luke is looking for a meaning to his lack of inspiration, he’s looking for a meaning in living in Rome.

*Filmmakers in Attendance

9.30

9.30 AM contd

I'M SORRY (Je M’excuse)

Dir: Francis Papillon

20 min | 2022 | Canada | French | Narrative Short | World Premiere

Louis is head over heels for Sam but realizes the truth of their relationship only after moving in the suburban house bought by the latter.

I KNOW TWO BOYS

Dir: Samanya Gandavarapu

5 min | 2023 | India | English | Music Video | Mumbai Premiere

I Know Two Boys is a music video supporting Same-Sex Marriage movement in India.

Dir: Sundeep Morrison

4 min | 2022 | USA | Punjabi | Music Video | World Premiere

When a granddaughter discovers her grandmother's painful secret about her long lost lover, she vows to reunite them in hopes of giving her grandmother a second chance at love.

Dirs: Daniel Sousa, Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson

14 min | 2023 | USA | No Dialogues |

Animation Short | World Premiere

A valiant island warrior, wounded in battle against foreign invaders, falls into a mysterious underwater world. When the octopus who rescued him transforms into a handsome young man, they become aikāne, bound by love and trust, and an epic adventure begins.

CHRISSY JUDY

96 min | 2022 | USA | English | Indian Premiere

Everybody has that one friend who can’t get their act together, but you can’t help but love them to pieces anyway. For thirty-something Chrissy, that’s his bestie, Judy, an endearing but perpetually messy ride-or-die who’s always got more than a few cocktails in the tank. After hustling for years together in the New York City bar scene, Judy is convinced that this is the summer their two-queen drag act will finally get its big break. That is, until Chrissy’s priorities suddenly shift, forcing a disillusioned Judy to closely examine his trajectory as a queer artist, and rediscover his true self in the process.

Festivals & Honors:

• World Premiere - Provincetown International Film Festival, USA 2022

• OUTFEST Los Angeles, USA 2022

• Hong Kong Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, 2022

• NewFest: 34th Annual New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival, USA 2022

• 30th Mardi Gras Film Festival, Sydney, Australia, 2023

• 37th BFI Flare London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival, United Kingdom 2023

Todd Flaherty is an actor, writer, and filmmaker; working in the indie and offBroadway theatre community developing and performing in new works that focus on untold multi-cultural queer stories. In 2017, Todd premiered his work as a writer and filmmaker with his award-winning web series Undetectable which explores the day-to-day world of a young man living with HIV. In 2020, at the height of the pandemic, Todd wrote and directed his first short, Let's Meet Again at the End of the World which is currently streaming on Amazon Prime. Chrissy Judy is Todd's first feature and third collaboration with his brother Brendan, with whom he couldn't have done this without...especially not while wearing heels.

Todd Flaherty

Dir: Todd Flaherty

Short Films Package

Indian Narrative Shorts Competition 1

Total Duration: 86 min

The first batch of this year’s nominations for the Best Indian Narrative Short award include four stimulating short films dealing with the basic desire to love and be loved; combating one’s own fears of being accepted by others and, most-importantly, being comfortable with oneself.

*Filmmakers in attendance. Film program will be followed by Q&A.

16 min | 2023 | India | English | Hindi | World Premiere

In Ismat Chughtai Award Competition

In Riyad Wadia Award Competition

Oas is a story of two women who broke up sometime back but are still in love. One has moved on while the other can’t let go. They meet for their last conversation that sums up their dreams and expectations. In this night of introspection, will their relationship revive? Relationships may not last forever but love can and when love stays, it becomes beautiful, just like the dew drops – Oas.

28 min | 2023 | India | English | Hindi | World Premiere

Amateur baker, Miril swipes right to Gandhar’s profile on a dating app. Receiving a match after ages, Gandhar feels ecstatic. After chatting for a few days both decide to meet. Gandhar is in a dilemma now as he has not been fully truthful about himself with Miril. Will this date be one more heartbreak for him?

Dir: Kartika Nainan Dubey

Dir: Sahil D Gada

MARIGOLD

Dir: Abhinav Dubey

12 min | 2022| India | Hindi | Asian Premiere

In Riyad Wadia Award Competition

As the summer holidays approach, Geeta decides to lie about her last day at work to meet Shashi. Conversation between two women unfolds their desires and sexuality which they long to share with each other, till the last boat arrives.

30 min | 2023 | India | Hindi |

In a single day, through a dating app Gaurav experiences two diverse dates. While the first one left him completely broken and with low self-esteem, the second date comes as a pleasant surprise like a hot cuppa of tea on a rainy day that eventually cheers him and his soul.

Dir: Jageshwar Ratnakar Dhoble

Short Films Package

Indian Narrative Shorts Competition 2

Total Duration: 65 min

The second part of this year’s nominations for the Best Indian Narrative Short award presents two thought-provoking narratives where the present day lives of the characters get entrapped in a conflict because of their past. Who gets burnt – the protagonists or their loved ones!

*Filmmakers in attendance. Film program will be followed by Q&A.

A DIARY’S FIRST PAGE

30 min | 2022 | India | English, Hindi, Malayalam |

Mumbai Premiere

An unexpected meeting at a party takes Ahan and Prabhat back to where it all began. They reminisce about the good old times while walking in the park and eventually head to Ahan’s flat for a few more drinks. Flashbacks from the past strike Prabhat as he looks at that corner where the two of them used to hang out before. Meanwhile Ahan discovers the diary that he gave Prabhat a long time ago. Prabhat still carries it.

SHURPANKHA

35 min | 2023 | India | Marathi | World Premiere

While India was excitedly celebrating its 25th Independence Day, siblings Madhav and Rukmini’s loving relationship is put to test. Skeletons buried deep in the closet are unearthed as the brother finally learns about his sister’s unconventional past and the choices she was forced to make by a close-minded society.

Dir: Hriday Rao Chauhan

Dir: Jayesh Mukund Apte

WHEN TIME GOT LOUDER

113 min | 2022 | Canada | English | Asian Premiere

Departing for college, Abbie leaves behind her parents and brother, Kayden, who is non-verbal and has autism. As Abbie falls in love with her new independence and budding relationship with a woman, her parents try to teach Kayden more independent life skills as they help him transition from high school to adulthood and adjust his routine without Abbie. Due to Abbie’s absence, Kayden’s struggles increase as he cannot communicate with his sister . When Abbie returns home for the holidays she discovers Kayden is in the hospital, and as a family they must find a solution for his future.

Festivals & Honors:

• World Premiere - Frameline: San Francisco Int'l LGBTQ+ FF, USA 2022

• Canadian Premiere - Vancouver International Film Festival, 2022

• Opening Night Film - The Santa Fe Film Festival, New Mexico, USA 2023

• Bahamas International Queer Film Festival, 2023

• Nevada Women’s Film Festival, Las Vegas, USA 2023

Connie Cocchia is a Vancouver BC based LGBTQ+ director, writer, and producer who began her film career in Los Angeles where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Film and Television at the University of Southern California. During her years in LA, she produced, wrote and directed a variety of short films including her award-winning film Awake. Connie’s feature directorial debut When Time Got Louder is supported by Telefilm Canada and centers on the autism and LGBTQ+ communities. With a passion for authenticity, these two communities are highlighted through the diverse hiring of crew, licensed music only from these two communities, and authentic casting. Connie is currently in development of her second feature, a comedy titled Quarter Life Crisis.

Dir: Connie Cocchia

Connie Cocchia

Short Films Package

Family Matters

Total Duration: 97 min

Across cultures and countries families are always at the epicentre of drama—some joyous, some sad, some dark and some extremely funny! Here is a mix package of six films offering a take on how queer people’s lives are intrinsically connected with their families.

METAMORPHOSIS (Metamorfosi)

Dir: Pietro Porporati

12 min | 2023 | Italy | Italian | Narrative Short | World Premiere

Francesco, trapped inside a blossoming female body, harbours a secret he only shares with his mother.

KALÃ (Skill)

Dir: Arshad Khan

12 min | 2023 | Canada | English, Hindi | Narrative Short | International Premiere

A South Asian mother finds herself immersed in a profound state of mourning after discovering that her beloved son identifies as gay. The unyielding barrage of taunts from her acquaintances forces her to confront the decisions she made during her younger years.

WILL YOU LOOK AT ME (Dang wo wang xiang ni de shi hou)

Dir: Shuli Huang

20 min | 2022 | China | Chinese | Experimental Short | Indian Premiere

David struggles to reconcile his burgeoning queer identity with his filial duties and expectations from his Chinese immigrant mother.

10.30 AM contd

TUI�NÁ (推拿)

Dir: William Duan

15 min | 2022 | Australia | English | Narrative Short | International Premiere

David struggles to reconcile his burgeoning queer identity with his filial duties and expectations from his Chinese immigrant mother.

LEO BY NIGHT (Leo La Nuit)

Dir: Nans Laborde-Jourdàa

23 min | 2021 | France | French | Narrative Short | Asian Premiere

Paul can't say no. He goes from job to job, from man's arm to man's arm, without knowing what tomorrow will bring. This Wednesday, he has to look after his eight-yearold son, whom he did not raise, and whom he had with Assa, a surgeon older  than him.

ZINDAGI DOBARA - LIFE AGAIN

Dir: Amritpal Kaur

15 min | 2022 | USA | English | Narrative Short | International Premiere

Zindagi Dobara is a short narrative film

centring a young South Asian teen who is forced to live with her distant aunt she's never met or heard of before, when her parents die in a car accident. The two are forced to embark on a lifelong journey to coexist and perhaps one day, love one another.

IT’S NOT THE FIRST TIME WE FIGHT FOR OUR LOVE

(Não é a primeira vez que lutamos pelo nosso amor)

In Competition

104 min | 2022 | Brazil, Argentina, USA | English, Portuguese, Spanish | Documentary Feature | Asian Premiere

The coup of ’64 in Brazil did not introduce prejudice against the queer community, but during that period, the LGBTQ+ population was considered an enemy of the traditional family, morality and good behaviour. This documentary recounts the unprecedented stories of persecution and violence with which the Brazilian civilmilitary dictatorship acted against the LGBTQ+ population, and how this same group constituted its resistance, transforming itself into fundamental subjects of the re-democratization process.

Festivals & Honors:

• Winner - Felix Award: Honorable Mention - Rio de Janeiro Int'l FF, 2022

• 30th MixBrasil Festival, São Paulo, Brazil, 2022

• 55th Brasilia Film Festival, Brazil, 2022

• San Diego Latino Film Festival, USA, 2023

Luis Carlos de Alencar is a director, screenwriter, researcher and partner of the production company Couro de Rato. He is known for documentaries that chronicle famous social movements and political processes, and the cross-section of the two. In his career of nearly two decades, he has won over 20 awards. He is known for films like Homem Invisíveis and Bombadeira. It’s Not the First Time We Fight for Love is his latest documentary.

Preceded By Flowers from Another Garden (See next page)

Dir: Luis Carlos de Alencar

Luis Carlos de Alencar

FLOWERS FROM ANOTHER

GARDEN (Flores del otro patio)

Dir: Jorge Cadena

16 min | 2022 | Switzerland, Colombia | Spanish | Narrative Short | Asian Premiere

In the north of Colombia, a group of queer activists use extravagant performative actions to denounce the disastrous exploitation by the country's largest coal mine.

Short Films Package

Documentary Panorama 1

Total Duration: 84 min

Life is an ever challenging journey and nothing goes as planned in one’s life, yet one has to keep going along with a determination and desire to live. The first part of Documentary Panorama showcases four realities about the lives, challenges, dreams and aspirations of the people from the LGBTQIA+ spectrum rooted in three diverse cultures and ethnicities.

BUNNY DECIDES TO GO

Dir: Vusala Hajiyeva

17 min | 2022 | Azerbaijan | Azerbaijani | Asian Premiere

A personal video diary about the isolation, fear and threats to her life in Baku that led the filmmaker on an unplanned trip to Tbilisi. There she has to adapt to a new life in a new city, solve the problems she carried.

MAWITAI'KW JUNE 8 THU Alliance Francaise

Dir: Bretten Hannam

Across Wabanaki territory, Two-Spirit people overcome distance, isolation, and a pandemic to unite as a community and share perspectives.

2.30 PM contd

PRIVILEGES Alliance Francaise

Dir: Daniel Favaretto

34 min | 2022 | Brazil | Portuguese

We used to have nightmares about AIDS. Today we choose to dream. Documentary invites people living with HIV to select memories to relive performatively in a dream

SONS OF THE NIGHT

Dir: Henrique Arruda

16 min | 2022 | Brazil | Portuguese | Asian Premiere

Questioning where their bodies fit in the current world, seven elderly men between ages 50 and 70 share their memories, lives and nocturnal images.

ESTHER NEWTON MADE ME GAY

In Competition

92 min | 2022 | USA | English | Documentary Feature | Asian Premiere

Drawn to the drag scene as a student in the 1950s and identifying as both butch lesbian and between genders, Esther Newton has spent seven decades writing about and forging queer communities; and her 1972 book ‘Mother Camp: Female Impersonators in America’ is noted as the first rigorous academic and anthropological study of queer community in modern history. This film gives us a rare look at queer history and gender studies through a living lesbian icon, encompassing amazing archival footage peppered with Esther’s other passion— dog training poodles.

Festivals & Honors:

• World Premiere, Best of Fest - BFI Flare London LGBTQIA+ FF, 2022

• Audience Award - Provincetown International Film Festival, USA, 2022

• Best Documentary + Audience Award - Bologna Lesbian FF, Italy, 2022

• Jury Award - OUT at the Movies Int’l FF, Winston-Salem, USA, 2022

Jean Carlomusto

Jean Carlomusto is a director, producer, editor, cinematographer, activist, and interactive media artist whose work explores the complex nature of unique individuals and marginalized populations. In 2022, she was a recipient of the Visual AIDS Vanguard Award for her pioneering work in the AIDS activist video movement. Her filmography includes critically acclaimed works such as her Emmy-nominated documentary Larry Kramer in Love & Anger; Sex in an Epidemic; To Catch a Glimpse, L Is For The Way You Look; and Offerings.

Dir: Jean Carlomusto

THE LAW OF LOVE

Dir: Barbora Chalupová

89 min | 2022 | Czech Republic | Czech |

Documentary Feature | Asian Premiere

It’s 2018 and Czeslaw Walek and his fellow-activists of Jsme Fér (‘We are fair’) are collecting signatures for the Marriage Equality Bill. They far exceed the minimum number of signatories, which gives them the right to a hearing in the Chamber of Deputies. But a long period of stalling and aggressive opposition lies ahead. The Law of Love delves into the long battle to open up marriage to same-sex couples in the Czech Republic where activists have to battle conservative politicians, the church, and violent right-wing extremists; despite public opinion being massively in favour of marriage equality.

Festivals & Honors:

• BFI Flare London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival, 2022

• Millennium Docs against Gravity, Poland, 2022

• Pink Apple Queer Film Festival, Switzerland, 2022

• Movies that Matters, The Netherlands, 2022

Barbora Chalupová is a director of the new young generation who is not afraid of experimenting in her films. Her filmography starts with the student film Transition (2014) shortlisted for the best student film at Magnesia Awards; and Arms Ready (2016) which looks into the enormous increase in the number of applicants for a firearms license in the Czech Republic. The latter was nominated for the Pavel Koutecký Award and appeared in the competition sections of the One World festival or Ji.hlava IDFF.

Barbora Chalupová

In Competition

Alliance Francaise

Preceded By

THE NOTE

Dir: Jen Nee Lim

16 min | 2021 | Singapore | English | Narrative Short | Indian Premiere

To connect with her new class, an inexperienced teacher asks each student to anonymously share a personal secret. Chaos ensues when a note reads: I have HIV.

10.30 AM

Short Films Package

Student Shorts Competition 1

Total Duration: 86 min

Four films from USA, Australia, Iran and Austria are part of the first segment of the two programs of films, made by students of media colleges, which are in competition.

HEDGEHOG

Dir: Jasper Caverly

16 min | 2022 | Australia | English | Asian Premiere

Brig Huang, a headstrong Trans teenager, is propelled into their hangover when a reckless decision that triggers an urgent determination for the ‘morning after’ pill.

Media School: Victorian College of the Arts, Australia

JOUISSANCE

Dir: Sadeq Es-haqi

22 min | 2022 | Islamic Republic of Iran | Persian | Mumbai Premiere

Arash and Rahi are a gay couple from Tehran. They’ve recently moved into a new house. However, their everyday routine is disrupted by the ghost of Rahi’s ex-boyfriend, who died six years ago and is now asking Rahi to continue living with him.

Media School: SOORE Art University of Tehran, Iran

NAKED MEN IN THE WOODS

(Nackte Männer Im Wald)

Dir: Paul Ploberger

30 min | 2022 | Austria | German | Mumbai Premiere

A complicated marriage: She has a tumor, he is queer, both of them are keeping it a secret. When their only daughter moves out, he is ready to come out. But that is not going to happen. He arranges a date for a bizarre role-play and she is spying on him, firmly believing that he is having an affair with a younger woman.

Media School: Filmakademie Wien, Austria

BROTHER JUNE 9 FRI

Alliance Francaise

Dir: Aleksei Borovikov

With his wedding to Carlos approaching, Tony, a young immigrant to the US, invites his conservative elder sister to the ceremony — a fateful decision that forces Tony to choose between his family and his happiness.

Media School: Columbia College, Chicago, USA

Preceded By

WHITEROCK

Dir: Kyle Reaume

13 min | 2023 | Experimental Short | Canada | English | World Premiere

An experimental documentary exploring a relationship that outwardly appeared loving, warm, and enviable but inwardly, a secret laid in the shadows, growing wings.

STROBING IMAGES & PSYCHEDELIC COLORS. Viewer’s discretion advised.

12.15 PM

Short Films Package

On The Brink

Total Duration: 68 min

LGBTQIA people around the world are subjected to prejudice, discrimination, jealously, hatred and violence - not just from the society, but many a times from their own people. These three narrative shorts here may make you feel edgy but these are also a wake-up call to reflect.

ANANDROS (Ο Άνανδρος)

Dir: Yanis Crom

18 min | 2022 | Greece | Modern Greek |

Narrative Short | World Premiere

In a Greek town, a young guy suffocated within his social surroundings, uses art as a secret escape in order to express himself. However, the unexpected outing of his sexuality leads to a family turmoil.

BELLE IS POQUE (A Bela é Poc)

Dir: Eric Lima

22 min | 2022 | Brazil | Portuguese |

Narrative Short | Asian Premiere

Belinho, lives with his father and supports him, is a great lover of France and dreams of being an artist like the cabaret divas he admires till a fatality happens and leads him to live his biggest dream.

PLAY HOUSE (过家家)

Dir: Xinyi Cao

30 min | 2022 | Austria | German |

Narrative Short | Mumbai Premiere

Xiao Lin and Chuan Yu are lovers. When a client commissioned Xiao Lin and Chuan for a role-play act their relationship put to a test.

Short Films Package

Desires & Discoveries

Total Duration: 97 min

In the realm of desires, mind explores and often makes new discoveries about the situations, people, and most importantly about oneself. A mix package of four passionate narratives emerging out of human desires and the discoveries that it leads to!

THE HARRYIAN THEORY

Dir: Chongyan Liu

21 min | 2021 | United Kingdom | English |

Narrative Short | Mumbai Premiere

When Philip invites his assistant's boyfriend, Harry, over for dinner under false pretences, an in-depth conversation on the nature of love leads to Philip revealing his true intentions and desires.

PUSSY LOVE

Dir: Linda Krauss

4 min | 2022 | Germany | English |

Animation Short | Asian Premiere

In an animated world where romance is kitsch even the most jaded cat can still be lost for love.

Alliance Francaise

FIRST TIME

Dir: Daniel Kahana

19 min | 2022 | USA | English |

Narrative Short | International Premiere

After an intern goes out to dinner with his supervisor on the last day of his internship, things take a sharp turn.

HUSH-HUSH

Dir: Manahar Kumar

13 min | 2023 | USA | English |

Narrative Short | Indian Premiere

Innovative ideas fail as a Philosophy professor finds the courage to tell his wife a hidden secret before their 5th anniversary.

WIGUDUN

96 min | 2021 | Panama

| Spanish, Dule# | Documentary Feature | Indian Premiere

As the colonial chronicles of the 15th and 17th centuries collect, several indigenous peoples of America considered that gender was not binary, male and female, on the contrary, diversity was the rule. In Panama, the Guna People identify Omeggid people as a third gender, which implies much more than a sexual orientation or erotic preference. This film brings together 4 protagonists in their intimacy, such as mothers, couples, professionals and leaders of the wigudum movement.

Festivals & Honors:

• 28th Mix Brasil Sao Paulo, Brazil, 2021

• 15th Festival for Rainbow, Fortaleza, Brazil, 2021

• 9th Taiwan International Queer Film Festival, 2022

• 15th Beijing Queer Film Festival, China 2022

• Winner - Best Documentary - 25° Festival ICARO, Guatemala, 2022

Fernando Muñoz is an Argentinian producer and director based in Panama since 2009. Muñoz directed A Night of Calypso, a documentary that was screened at film festivals and won awards such as Works in Progress at the Havana Film Festival, Cuba 2016 and Best Documentary at International Film Festival of Panama, 2018. Wigudun is his directorial debut.

Raphael Salazar is a Panamanian Director of Photography and Still Photographer based in Panama. Wigudun is his directorial debut.

#the indigenous language of Guna Yala

Dir: Fernando Muñoz, Raphael Salazar

Fernando Muñoz

Raphael Salazar

Alliance Francaise

4.00 PM

Short Films Package

Face2Face

Total Duration: 38 min

The best way to overcome any irrational phobia or unreasonable situation is to counter them directly. A mix package of nine short films about fighting the demons of discrimination and hatred in one’s inner, as well as, the outer world.

LET GO

Dir: Hannon Hardy

5 min | 2022 | USA | English | Narrative Short | International Premiere

Let Go shines a light on anti-gay laws, immigration, and the life-threatening identity crisis that derives from being born in a country where sexuality is legally punishable by death.

THE FUGITIVES (Los Cimarrones)

Dir: Dami Sainz Edwards

13 min | 2021 | Cuba | Spanish | Narrative Short | Asian Premiere

The night forest hides the deepest terrors of Orestes-the darkness, the slave spirits, and the homosexuality of his brother.

THE VALLEY OF THE WIND

Dir: Samira Norouznasseri

20 min | 2022 |Islamic Republic of Iran | Persian | Narrative Short | Indian Premiere

Two old friends who haven't seen each other for several years go on a trip to the country. They spend a night at an abandoned house where memories of their childhood begin to haunt them.

Short Films Package

Documentary Short Competition 1

Total Duration: 50 min

This year’s Documentary Short Films in Competition has nominees from UK, USA, Germany, Israel and Cambodia! Presenting here, the first part of the same with two short films from Germany, Israel and UK.

WHAT IT MEANS TO BE

Dir: Lea Luiz De Oliveira

35 min | 2022 | UK | English | World Premiere

Callie is an activist who uses her position in STEM to fight for trans* rights and representation. As she is about to start her medical transition, a diagnosis puts her health and her career into question, she embarks on a journey of self- acceptance and decides to use her music to inspire others.

BI THE WAY

Dir: Amir Ovadia Steklov

15 min | 2022 | Germany, Israel | English | Indian Premiere

Bi The Way is a short, funny, and intimate animated film about Amir’s life-journey as a bisexual cis man – made in a Stop-Motion animation technique. The film tells Amir’s story from early childhood until present day, highlighting his struggle to fit into binary culture making him unacceptable to the hetero-normative community and invisible in the LGBTQIA community.

MAYBE SOMEDAY

In Competition

91 min | 2022 | USA | English | Narrative Feature | Indian Premiere

In the midst of separating from her wife, Jay attempts to move across the country to start her life over again. She stops in the middle to stay with her high school best friend who she used to be secretly in love with, and befriends a charismatic gay man who has long given up on love. Struggling to move forward with the next chapter of her life, memories of the past resurface as Jay grapples with the inevitable cycles of love, loss, and letting go.

Festivals & Honors:

• World Premiere - Cinequest Film Festival, San Jose, USA 2022

• Frameline: San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival, USA 2022

• Chéries-Chéris LGBTQI Film Festival, Paris 2022

• Best Narrative Feature & Audience Award - Long Beach Q Film Festival 2022

• Ljubljana LGBT Film Festival, Slovenia 2022

• TLVFest, Israel 2023

• BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival 2023

• Best LGBTQIA+ Film - Oxford Film Festival, Mississippi, USA 2023

Michelle Ehlen has directed, produced, written, and acted in five award-winning features, including the first lesbian comedy trilogyButch Jamie, Heterosexual Jill, and S&M Sally. With a focus on comedy, much of her work satirizes gender, sexuality, stereotypes, and identity. Her work has screened in over 100 festivals worldwide and has been acquired by Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, LOGO, and HereTV. She has won 20 awards including the Director’s Award from Out Film CT, Best Feature from the Chicago LGBTQ Film Festival, and Best Actress from Outfest Los Angeles. Maybe Someday is her fifth feature and first dramedy.

Dir: Michelle Ehlen

Michelle Ehlen

Dir: Anthony Assad

14 min | 2023 | Ireland | English |

Narrative Short | Asian Premiere

Alex is in the throes of his transition from female to male so when his best friend abandons a joint venture to assert their burgeoning identities he’s forced to confront his anxieties before entering the unknown alone.

PALOMA

In Competition

104 min | 2022 | Brazil | Portuguese |

Narrative Feature | Mumbai Premiere

On a hot summer day, Paloma (played by transgender actress Keka Sena) decides to fulfil her most cherished dream: a traditional wedding in a church with her boyfriend Zé. She is a devoted mother, a hard-working farmhand in a papaya plantation and has been saving to afford the celebration. The priest’s refusal to marry her and Zé will force Paloma to confront the rural society. She suffers violence, betrayal, prejudice and injustice but nothing shakes the faith and determination of this  transgender woman.

Festivals & Honors:

• World Premiere - Munich International Film Festival, 2022

• Winner–Silver Q-Hugo Award, Chicago International Film Festival, 2022

• Cartagena Film Festival, 2023

Marcelo Gomes is an award-winning film director, screenwriter and visual artist. His debut film, Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures (2005) screened at Cannes (Un Certain Regard) and received France’s National Education Prize. His feature film Viajo Porque Preciso, Volto Porque Te Amo (I Travel Because I Have to, I Come Back Because I Love You), which he co-directed with Karim Aïnouz, premiered at Venice (Orizzonti). His films Joaquim and Waiting for the Carnival have screened at the Berlinale.

Marcelo Gomes

Dir: Marcelo Gomes

MAMA BEARS

Dir: Daresha Kyi

90 min | 2022 | USA | English |

Documentary Feature | Asian Premiere

Did you know there are more than 32,000 mothers in America, many from conservative, Christian backgrounds, who fully accept their LGBTQ+ children? They call themselves “mama bears” because while their love is warm and fuzzy, they fight ferociously to make the world kinder and safer for all LGBTQ+ people. Mama Bears explores this growing movement through the lives of three diverse mothers and their LGBTQ+ children.

Festivals & Honors:

• World Premiere - SXSW Film & TV Festival, Austin, Texas, USA, 2023

• Best Documentary - Sun Valley Film Festival, Idaho, USA 2022

• Audience Award - OUTshine Film Festival

• Movies That Matter Festival, Netherlands 2023

Daresha Kyi is an Emmy Award-winning director who also writes and produces film and television in Spanish and English. A former fellow in the Firelight Media Documentary, Chicken & Egg Eggcelerator, Creative Capital, and A Blade of Grass programs, Daresha has an extensive background producing content for FX, WE, AMC, Telemundo, and FUSE, among other networks. She is renowned for films like Georgia Going Blue; and Trans in America: Texas Strong which won the News & Documentary Emmy Award for Outstanding Short Documentary as well as two Webby Awards.

Daresha Kyi

MIGUEL'S WAR*

(Aanaf

128 min | 2021 | Lebanon, Spain | Arabic, English, French, Spanish |

Documentary Feature | Indian Premiere

For 37 years, Miguel has been living as an exiled gay in Spain and has become a successful conference interpreter. It is only now that he is willing to return to his native country Lebanon and confront his traumatic past, maybe he could finally find some emotional balance and love.

*Key Subject in Attendance. Film program will be followed by Q&A.

Festivals & Honors:

• Winner Teddy award - Berlinale panorama 2021

• Winner Best Documentary Grand Jury award - NewFest, USA 2021

• Winner Best Documentary - Chéries-Chéris LGBTQI FF, Paris 2022

• Winner Best Documentary - Mizna Arab FF, Minneapolis, USA 2022

• Winner Best Documentary - Valencia Women FF, Spain 2023

Eliane Raheb is a Lebanese female filmmaker. Her documentariesSo Near Yet So Far, Suicide, This is Lebanon, Sleepless Nights, Those Who Remain, have screened at many international festivals and received awards. Miguel's War is her third feature documentary. She is also a founding member of the cinema association Beirut DC where she directs festivals and holds workshops. She taught documentary courses in Saint Joseph University between 2003 and 2016.

Hob, بح فنعأ )

Dir: Eliane Raheb

Eliane Raheb

Short Films Package

International Narrative Shorts Competition 2

Total Duration: 79 min

KASHISH 2023 is excited to present 5 films from Chile, France, Finland, Iran, Netherlands, and UK as part of the International Narrative Shorts Competition 2 program.

THE

MELTING

CREATURES

(Les créatures qui fondent au soleil)

Dir: Diego Céspedes

17 min | 2022 | Chile, France | Spanish | Indian Premiere

Nataly, a trans woman, is visiting her former lover Leon with her daughter Secreto in a mysterious reclusive community hiding from the Sun. These reunions will bring back the memory of a toxic and abusive relationship to Nataly.

SERVICE (Palvelus) JUNE 10 SUN Alliance Francaise

Dir: Mikko Makela

On furlough from his military service, Niko pays his estranged father a visit. Can old wounds heal? Service examines the Finnish institution of compulsory military service and its links to ideas of masculinity, from a queer perspective.

TOO ROUGH

Dir: Sean Lìonadh

2.30 PM contd

SAT Alliance

Francaise

15 min | 2022 | UK | English | Indian Premiere

After a night of intoxication, a hungover and hysterical Nick wakes up next to his boyfriend Charlie and must conceal him from his own homophobic and dysfunctional family.

SUITE NIGHT

Dir: Mahtab Pishghadam

14 min | 2022 | Islamic Republic of Iran | Persian | Indian Premiere

Suite Night is based on a true story. A young woman is desperately attempting to help a loved one abandoned by everyone else.

REQUIRED READING*

Dir: Iniyavan Elumalai

16 min | 2022 | Netherlands | Dutch, English, Spanish | Asian Premiere

*Filmmaker in Attendance

A cis, straight-identifying male and a nonbinary person fall in love. Will they find the courage to be honest with both - themselves and the world?

Short Films Package

Documentary Shorts Competition 2

Total Duration: 68 min

Dignity, Pride, Love and Families are at the core of these real life stories coming from Cambodia, USA, Belize, India, Kenya, Seychelles, Singapore, and United Kingdom – in the second part of Documentary Short Films in Competition. Their sentiments are as tangible as their struggles!

A BETTER PLACE

33 min | 2022 | UK | English, Hindi, Swahili | Mumbai Premiere

A Better Place is an in depth look at the toxic legacy of British colonial-era laws, which criminalise consensual same-sex love, while at the same time allowing perpetrators of sexual violence to go unpunished. More than 70 countries still criminalise gay sex. In over 30, rape within marriage is still legal. Behind these statistics are the people whose lives are paralysed by these archaic laws.

GOLDEN VOICE

18 min | 2022 | Cambodia, USA | Central Khmer, English | Asian Premiere

Forty years after the Khmer Rouge regime, a transgender man returns to the village where he survived the genocide and miraculously found queer and trans community, including the love of his life.

Dir: Jennifer Fearnley

Dir: Mars Verrone

10 SAT

4.00 PM cond.

Alliance Francaise

HOLDING MOSES

Dir: Rivkah Beth Medow

17 min | 2022 | USA | English | International Premiere

A Broadway performer becomes a mother, braiding rhythm and grief and time and joy on her path to connect with her profoundly disabled son. Randi is visually striking and presents as very masculine of center, which defies most people’s image of a mother. Her story blends parenting, family, queerness and disability; it is one rarely told in our culture.

Preceded

By

PROMISE OF A WILD LOVE

(Promessa de um Amor Selvagem)

Dir: Davi Mello

23 min | 2022 | Brazil | Portuguese | Narrative Short | Asian Premiere

After crashing into a party, a young man discovers that this will be his last night.

KISSING THE GROUND YOU WALKED ON

(Hai ou lai guo de fang jian)

Dir: Heng Fai Hong

93 | 2022 | Macau |

Cantonese |

Narrative Feature | Indian Premiere

Chou, a writer who has not written for years, is looking for a tenant to share a spare room in his house. One day, an actor called Chiang comes to rent the room. His clear and innocent eyes have evoked the writer’s interest. Chou finds out that the daily life of Chiang is a performance in itself, he begins to refer to the new tenant as the blueprint of his novel.

An adaption of Anton Chekov’s Seagull, Kissing the Ground You Walked On is Hong’s debut feature film

Festivals & Honors:

• World Premiere - Golden Horse Awards, Taipei, Taiwan 2022

• International Film Festival Rotterdam, Netherlands 2023

• Hong Kong International Film Festival, Hong Kong 2023

• Singapore Chinese Film Festival, Singapore 2023

Heng Fai Hong has been involved in performing arts for more than a decade. He was the Director of Horizons Theatre (Macao) between 2011 and 2012. He planned with friends in Taiwan a documentary entitled Rice for The Dead in 2006, whose topic and experimental issues triggered widespread debates in the community. He founded Day Day Studio in 2014, whose first work

Heng Fai

Hong

Before Dawn won the champion of Macao Cultural Centre's Rush48 award. His three subsequent short films, Caged, In Memory of Her and Crash (2016), were nominated at the Macao International Film and Video Festival.

D&I Roadmap – Experience Sharing

While D&I has been a hot topic of discussion among corporate houses globally for a couple of decades now, in India in the past few years many corporates have come to the fore to discuss Diversity & Inclusion strategies and formulating policies that offer an equitable status to the LGBTQ+ community at their workplace. There is immense value in this for both the corporates and their employees. But what have been the roadblocks, and how have the corporate houses navigated this. We speak to HR/D&I heads of some of the corporate houses who are frontline leaders in D&I to understand their companies journeys in leading the change.

Supported by Morgan Stanley

Speakers: Avril Fernandes, Morgan Stanley; Minal Vaidya, general Mills; Archana Chopara, Disney Star

Moderator: Zainab Patel

Creating LGBTQIA+ Inclusive Workplaces: Policies, Practices, and Perspectives

Is your workplace truly inclusive and safe for LGBTQIA+ individuals? Imagine feeling secure, comfortable, and free to be your authentic self without judgment. How can organizations demonstrate diversity acceptance to attract queer employees? Workplace safety includes a sense of belonging and mental well-being. Review policies for inclusivity regarding self-expression, dress codes, professional norms, and psychological safety. Establish secure channels for reporting grievances and feedback. The workplace can be a safe space for self-exploration and understanding. Prioritizing inclusivity makes organizations preferred employers, attracting those who truly belong. Join the round table with KelpHR to share your thoughts.

Supported by KelpHR

Speakers: Parmesh Shahani, Maya Urmi Aher, Anupama Easwaran, K Vaishali

Moderator: Smita Kapoor

LGBTQ+ Rights in Asian Countries – Nepal, Singapore, Lebanon & India

In 2007 Nepal repealed the laws against gay sex and introduced several laws which explicitly protected sexual orientation. In 2018 India read down Sec 377 thereby decriminalizing same-sex relationships. In 2022 Singapore read down Sec 377A thereby legalizing same-sex sexual activity. A district court of appeal in Lebanon issued a groundbreaking ruling on July 12, 2018, that consensual sex between people of the same sex is not unlawful, thereby reading down Article 534. KASHISH 2023 brings together activists and filmmakers from Nepal, Singapore, Lebanon and India to talk about legal, economic and social rights of LGBTQ+ individuals in their individual countries.

Supported by Consulate General of Canada

Speakers: Sunil Babu Pant, Miguel Jelelaty Obeid, Opera Tang, Avni , Muskaan

Moderator: Shruta Amit Rawat

The Language of Respect

The panel discussion ‘The Language of Respect’ will explore the impact of content and its portrayal on shaping identities, influencing pop culture, and impact on the LGBTQIA+ communities. Key topics include the power and misuse of words, consequences of inappropriate and objectifying character portrayals, and their real-life repercussions. This dialogue aims to foster responsible content creation in the media industry by stressing the need for appropriate and respectful language usage, accurate representations, and respectful portrayals of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Supported by Disney Star

Speakers: Onir, Shobhna S. Kumar, Nandini, Minakshi Achan

Moderator: Jitin Hingorani

4.00 PM ‒

5.00 PM

Keep Walking With Pride - Emerging Indian Filmmakers Interface

In its continued efforts to spotlight work of emerging filmmakers, KASHISH brings together emerging filmmakers whose films are being screened at KASHISH. The conversation will highlight the trials and tribulations, as well as the intense passion and joy of these filmmakers, who have gone against the grain to make these amazing LGBTQ+ themed films. Supported by Johnny & Co

Speakers: Arvind Caulagi, Kamya Nair, Naresh Parajpat, Pratap

Harode, Preeti Kanungo, Sundeep Morrison, Vasundhara Jadhav

Moderator: Sridhar Rangayan

KASHISH 2023 FESTIVAL TEAM

Festival Director

Sridhar Rangayan

Director of Programming

Saagar Gupta

Director of Finance

Chandresh Mehta

Director of Operations

Aaron D’souza

Production Controller

Atul Chavre

Production Manager

Monali Bhardwaj

Venue Manager, Liberty Cinema

Sumit Pawar

Venue Manager, Alliance Françoise de Bombay PK

Panel Coordinator

Juhi Rajpal

Jury Coordinator

Ishir Acharya

Hospitality Coordinator

Arun Nair

Technical Coordinators

Amar Rajpoot, Sheldon Henriques

Production Coordinators

Parikshit Sethe, Umar Khan

Preview Team Members

Abhay Kulkarni, Abhra Das, Bhagirathi Raman, Guelcin, Murali Raman, Nishtha Nishant, Priyadarshini Ohol, Satvik Sharma, Shreya Reddy, Urmi Ahire

Opening Night Hosts

Sucharita Tyagi, Priya Malik

Closing Night Hosts

Rohini Ramnathan, Aaron D’Souza

Festival Animation

Pradipta Ray

Festival Trailer

Akshay Jakhotiya

Digital Marketing

Durraiya Hasta (Digital Fix)

Website Design

Idigitize

Catalog Design

Yogesh Jahagirdar

Pradnya Naik

Catalog Program Notes

Saagar Gupta

Opening & Closing Ceremony Script

Divya Vinekar

… and the entire team of OUR WONDERFUL Volunteers!

FRIENDS OF KASHISH 2023

Thanks to each one of the below contributors to our crowdfunding donation campaign. All of you have made this festival possible with your support.

Dan Otmar Super Program Sponsor

Animesh Bahadur Program Sponsor

Neelima Lavana Super Family

Anonymous Family

Ameya Phadnis Family

Mayuresh Tapale Family

Maulik Thakkar Family

Neil Pate & Roop Gursahani Family

Parag Pradhan Family

Piyush Upadhyay Family

Anjum Rajabali Friend

Aruna Desai Friend

Nandita Das Friend

Rrutum Lavana Friend

Ivan John Ally

Avantika Akerkar Supporter

Samprati Lavana Supporter

KASHISH 2023 PARTNERS

Films Index

Total number of Programmed Films: 157 Films

Total number of Participating Countries: 42 Countries

Narrative Features

Chrissy Judy - 69

Ek Jagah Apni - 64

Joyland - 48

Kissing The Ground You Walked On -

101

Lie With Me - 55

Maja Ma - 56

Maybe Someday - 92

My Partner - 53

Old Narcissus - 66

Paloma - 94

Pine Cone - 37

Runs In The Family - 62

Satya The Truth - 65

Something You Said Last Night - 49

When Time Got Louder - 73

Documentary Features

Baby Queen - 54

Esther Newton Made Me Gay - 81

It´S Not The First Time We Fight For

Our Love - 77

Mama Bears - 95

Miguel's War - 96

Prejudice & Pride – Swedish Film

Queer - 57

The Law Of Love - 82

Wigudun, Soul Of Two Spirits - 89

Documentary Shorts

@Buddistandqueer: Their Path From

Sarees To Robes - 39

A Better Place - 99

A Pearl In The Ocean - 52

Aangan 'A Blooming Space' - 52

Always, Asifa - 51

Bi The Way - 91

Bunny Decides To Go - 79

Diva - 50

Golden Voice - 99

Holding Moses - 100

Mawitai'kw - 79

Privileges - 80

Raja Bro - 52

Sons Of The Night - 80

Sean Dorsey Dance: Dreaming Trans

And Queer Futures - 50

What It Means To Be - 91

International Narrative Shorts

A Different Place - 46

Alone - 40

An Avocado Pit - 40

Anandros - 86

Belle Is Poque - 86

Blue Flower - 44

Boxed In - 39

Brother - 85

Dandelion - 46

First Time - 88

Flowers From Another Garden - 78

Happy Retirement Mr. Pickering - 47

Hedgehog - 84

Honey & Milk - 41

Hush-Hush - 88

I'm Sorry - 68

Jouissance - 84

Kalã (Skill) - 75

Lambing - 41

Leo By Night - 76

Let Go - 90

Little Sky - 38

Look Like You - 47

Love Lingers - 47

Metamorphosis- 75

Naked Men In The Woods - 85

Our Males And Females - 41

Overdream - 38

Panic Attack - 93

Play House - 86

Promise Of A Wild Love - 100

Required Reading - 98

Roman Youth! - 67

Rooted - 61

Service - 97

Soft Sign - 60

Suite Night - 98

The Melting Creatures - 97

The Fugitives - 90

The Harryian Theory - 87

The Note - 83

The Tree - 67

The Valley Of The Wind - 90

Together/Apart - 60

Too Rough - 98

Tuī Ná - 76

Zindagi Dobara - Life Again - 76

Indian Narrative Shorts

A Diary's First Page - 72

A Touch - 70

Beach - 43

Goodbye Again - 61

Jaayaz - 58

Kiss - 63

Lailaa Manju - 63

Lavishka - 42

Liave It - 71

Malwa Khushan - 45

Manu - 42

Marigold - 71

Oas - 70

Phobhaiyya - 58

Road Blocked Ahead - 59

Safar - 42

Shurpankha - 72

Taps - 45

Animation Shorts

Aikāne - 68

Pussy Love - 87

The Last Anomaly - 67

Experimental Shorts

Whiterock - 85

Will You Look At Me - 75

Music Videos

I Know Two Boys - 68

Your Love - 68