ALLIED EVENTS

These panels and workshops are part of the KASHISH 2021 program and are available free to watch on our social media handles @kashishfilmfest on Facebook and Instagram, and on our YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/KASHISHfilmfest These programs will be live-streamed at the below mentioned date and time.

OPENING CEREMONY

The grand Opening Ceremony of KASHISH 2021 hosted by the glamorous RENIL ABRAHAM, will feature amazing performances by MX. TAYANO (A-capella), SMITIN BHOSALE (dance) JOHN OINAM & SMRUTI JALPUR (music) and SOHINI ROYCHOWDHURY choreographed dance, performed by HARIKAMAL MAZUMDAR & PRABIR KAYAL. The opening ceremony also features talks by the KASHISH festival & preview teams, KASHISH Advisory Board Members, KASHISH Partners, and a beautiful video by community members titled ‘Unlock With Pride’.

TEACH THEM YOUNG! - Qualitative Queer Narratives emerging from Indian Film Schools With their students' films getting noticed and winning awards at film festivals, the film & media schools in India can easily be credited for nurturing and honing budding filmmakers. Not only do these student films have an engaging narrative but they are truly delightful qualitative cinema. Lately with the focus being shifted to LGBTQ+ narratives, how are the film schools encouraging these young filmmakers to come up with heart-warming, yet politically correct stories, without ruffling any feathers? Speakers: ANUPAM BARVE, FTII (Pune), MADHAVI TANGELLA, SRFTI (Kolkata), NIRMITA GUPTA, SCM Sophia (Mumbai), RAHUL PURI, Whistling Woods International (Mumbai) & VIVECK VASWANI, Pearl Academy (Mumbai) Moderator: BHAGIRATHI RAMAN, curator & outreach consultant (Goa/Mumbai)

Understanding Inclusivity in the Queer Community

Queerness is an umbrella that is home to a rainbowed plethora of identities. While queerness binds us, it does not homogenize us. Join Zinedabaad Collective and KASHISH MIQFF in this reflective arts-based session to think about the diversity of our lived experiences. How can we make queer spaces where everyone feels welcome? How can we unlock—truly unlock, regardless of gender, caste, religion and ability—with pride? This workshop will be held on Zoom followed by an open call for submissions for a digital anthology zine around the same topic. KASHISH participants and viewers will be encouraged to send in their thoughts on inclusivity and the queer community in prose, narrative writing, poetry, traditional and digital art, photography, etc.

BOOKS TO SCREEN – Lost & Found in Translation!

It is always exciting when a novel that you have read and imagined comes out as a film / web series and you watch it on the screen, and tally your imagination with what is portrayed. Can screen adaptations of LGBTQ+ novels/ stories do justice to them, or is something lost in translation? What is the approach taken by screenwriters and directors to adapt books to screen, what do they keep and what do they leave out, and how do they reimagine? We speak to novelists, screenwriters and filmmakers to understand this beautiful experience of transformation.

Speakers: JONAS GARDELL, novelist, playwright, screenwriter, director and comedian (Sweden), LIVING SMILE VIDYA, actor, author and trans activist (Chennai), MAHESH DATTANI, playwright & filmmaker (Mumbai) and MIRA NAIR, filmmaker (Kampala/New York) Moderator: RAGA D'SILVA, author & motivational speaker (London)

UNLOCKING ACCEPTANCE WITH SIBLINGS

If families form the core of our being, siblings contribute to the most fond memories and deep influences of our growing up years. They are the lens through which we see our childhood. Siblings are our partners and rivals, our first friends and our first enemies. If a LGBTQIA+ sibling comes out to their heterosexual sibling, does acceptance follow automatically or is there a long-drawn-out hesitation between them? For LGBTQIA+ persons how important is the acceptance and support from their heterosexual siblings? KASHISH 2021 tries to find out the answers for such crucial and some cool questions by chit-chatting with awesome LGBTQIA+ persons and their equally wonderful non-queer siblings. Speakers: NISHTHA NISHANT and PARITOSH GOSAVI (Mumbai), SHRUTA RAWAT and SHLOKA MENGLE (Mumbai), SONAL GIANI and RUPA GIANI (Bangalore), VIVEK RAJ ANAND, BHARAT ANAND and REKHA SHAH (Mumbai) Moderator: SHRUTA RAWAT Research Manager (Mumbai)

LGBTQ FILM FESTIVALS – The Importance of Community Building Film Festivals, especially the niche ones like LGBTQ film festivals, have always been more than platforms for exhibition of films, they have been spaces for community building, where LGBTQIA+ persons can have a safe-space to express their identity and also possibly intermingle with the non-LGBTQ society for exchange of views. India, despite the legal barrier till recently and social stigmatization, has a rich history of LGBTQIA+ film festivals that have paved the way of mainstreaming queer issues. But how are these festivals coping with the current pandemic and lockdowns, are they able to navigate to a virtual world and still continue their mission of community building. KASHISH is proud to bring together festival organizers of LGBTQIA+ film festivals from Canada, Pakistan / Denmark and India. Speakers: ANINDYA HAJRA, Dialogues Film Festival (Kolkata), KATHERINE SETZER, Image+Nation Film Festival (Montreal), PRIYA BABU, Trans Film Festival & Awards (Madurai) & SAADAT MUNIR, Aks International Minorities Festival Film (Pakistan / Copenhagen) Moderator: ANDREA KUHN, Nuremberg International Human Rights Film Festival (Germany)

RELIGIOUSLY QUEER

Intersection of religion and sexuality has always been an intriguing subject where most people believe that if you are religious you cannot be queer. There have also been myths and mythology about same-sex loving persons being considered sinners or deviants. But all that has changed in most countries and LGBTQ persons are now able to reconcile their religion and sexuality seamlessly and live a happy and fulfilled life. How do filmmakers whose films we are screening at KASHISH 2021, make films about religion and sexuality navigate this challenging terrain? Do they bring their sexuality into play when focusing on the narrative? Filmmakers from India, Israel and India speak about their own films and the space in which they find themselves.

Speakers: FAWZIA MIRZA, dir: Noor & Lyla (Canada / USA); RABI VERDI, dir: Marry Me However (Israel); RAMAKAUSHALYAN RAMAKRISHNAN, dir: Shivanum-Mohiniyum (India) & SUKHDEEP SINGH, dir: Sab Rab De Bande (India)

Moderator: MOHAMMED SHAIK HUSSAIN ALI, author & activist (USA)

MARRIAGE EQUALITY – What is the Way Forward Post the decriminalization of homosexuality in India in 2018, the LGBTQIA+ community is waiting for the next big step that will recognize not only their identities but also their partnerships. Same-Sex marriage rights are a hot topic being discussed right now in the courtrooms, in the media, on the news channels and also among members of the LGBTQIA+ community. What can India take from countries that legalized same-sex partnerships way back, for example, from Belgium which became the second country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage, after the Netherlands in 2003! Community members, couples from India and Belgium engage in a free-flowing discussion not only about laws and policies, but basic human emotions that are the bedrock of all relationships. Speakers: DAVID PATERNOTTE, author & speaker (Belgium), PETER STRIJDONK & STIJN DEKLERCK, gay couple (Belgium/Netherlands), MANVENDRA SINGH GOHIL, first openly gay prince & activist (India), PARAG MEHTA & VAIBHAV JAIN, gay couple & petitioners for same-sex marriage rights in Delhi High Court (New York) & VIHAAN PEETHAMBAR & RAJASHREE RAJU, queer couple (Bangalore) Moderator: SURESH RAMDAS, gay activist (Bangalore)

ON WHOSE SHOULDERS WE STAND - Remembering Theirstories, Herstories and Histories While the Indian LGBTQIA+ movement has taken rapid strides in the past decade, with the decriminalization of homosexuality, and passing of the Transgender protection bill, it has taken years, and even decades, of hard work to arrive at where we are today. Similarly everywhere across the world - activists, advocates and allies have rallied behind the movement, propelling it forward. There have been several torchbearers who have pioneered the movement. But does today’s millennial generation, zipping through social media and consuming small bytes of information, remember and recognize the decades of hardwork that has gone to bring forth the freedom they enjoy today. This panel discussion brings together senior LGBTQ+ activists from India and Canada to discuss how important it is to preserve Herstories and Histories.

Speakers: ASHOK ROW KAVI, journalist & activist (Mumbai), GOPI SHANKAR, intersex activist (Madurai), RUTH VANITA, author (Montana) Moderator: KARIM LADAK, author & activist (Toronto)

CORPORATE ROUNDTABLE – Being inclusive about the LGBTQ+ community A corporate roundtable with some of the companies that are supporting KASHISH 2021, where each of the company representative will be able to make a presentation of 3 minutes about their companies latest advances in the D&I sector, with a specific focus on the work done by them for the LGBTQIA+ community – be it within their companies, or externally with their support to events. There will be a moderated discussion after the presentation, bringing out what has been done, and what are the challenges that lie ahead. Speakers: AVRIL MIRANDA FERNANDES, Executive Director, Morgan Stanley; NUPUR BEDI HR Director, General Mills, GIC and PRACHI RASTOGI, Diversity & Inclusion Leader, IBM Asia Pacific Moderator: SRIDHAR RANGAYAN, Festival Director, KASHISH MIQFF

CLOSING & AWARDS CEREMONY

The grand Closing Ceremony of KASHISH 2021 hosted by the indomitable RJ ROHINI RAMNATHAN, will feature amazing performances and announcement by the 3 jury panels, of the winners in each of the 10 competition categories.