KASHISH Pride Film Festival
Introduction The '''KASHISH Pride Film Festival''' (earlier known as '''KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival''', also known as '''Mumbai International Queer Film Festival''' and '''Mumbai Queer Film Festival''') is an annual LGBTQ event that has been held in Mumbai, India, since 2010.The film festival screens gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer films from India and around the world. It is voted as one of the top five LGBT film festivals in the world.
Background 2009 was a historic year for the LGBTQ movement in India. On 2 July 2009, the Delhi High Court court ruling decriminalised homosexual intercourse between consenting adults and judged Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code to be conflicting with the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution of India. This brought a respite to the Indian LGBT community that has been repressed and marginalized. This also led to open celebrations by LGBT persons including pride parades in many of the metros.This was followed by the relaunch of India's first gay magazine, ''Bombay Dost''. The Indian Election Commission decided to recognize transgender as a separate category. All these activities brought media focus and visibility to the LGBTQ community in India.KASHISH Pride Film Festival took this movement forward through the medium of films. It made LGBTQ persons, their desires and aspirations visible through films and brought about an international perspective to LGBTQ works. The objective of the festival continues to mainstream the LGBTQ community and project them as 'normal' human beings who have the capacity to love and live with dignity. The festival offers cinema as a means to understand what being queer means today, and how it impacts both the queer community and the society at large.It was the first Indian LGBTQ film festival to be held in a mainstream theater. It was also the first LGBTQ film festival to obtain a clearance from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India).
The festival KASHISH Pride Film Festival, 2010 was held between 22 and 25 April 2010, spread across two venues in Mumbai – one in the city and one in the suburbs. The first edition was organized by Solaris Pictures and The Humsafar Trust in association with Bombay Dost. Features, short films, documentaries and experimental films were screened that highlighted gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender characters and stories. The films explored the diverse realities, complexities, joys and sorrows that make up the global queer experience. They also celebrated, reclaimed, and explained LGBTQ identities while engaging and entertaining audiences. The film festival brought together the audience, the films and their makers to create social change.In its debut year, founder Festival Director Sridhar Rangayan said he hoped that the film festival would encourage greater visibility of queer cinema and bring it into the mainstream discourse. He has said that the festival showcases the films to both queer and mainstream audiences, in order to make them aware of queer thought, desires and expressions.The festival boasts of support from Indian film personalities. Shyam Benegal is the Festival Patron. Celina Jaitly was the Festival Ambassador till 2020.The advisory board of the festival is composed of eminent personalities like Aruna Raje Patil, Dolly Thakore, Meghna Ghai Puri, Onir, Renuka Shahane and Roy Wadia. In the past years Nandini Sardesai, Shernaz Patel and Jenni Olson (USA) also served on the advisory board.Some of the chief guests and guests of honour at the festival have been Sir Ian McKellen, Sonam Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, Raveena Tandon, Konkana Sen Sharma, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Rajkumar Rao, Swara Bhaskar, Divya Dutta, Pratik Gandhi, Ranveer Brar, Shalmali, Pooja Bhatt, Nisa Godrej, Anupam Kher, Kunal Kapoor, Juhi Chawla, Manisha Koirala, Nandita Das, Sai Paranjpye, Kabir Bedi, Kalpana Lajmi, Zeenat Aman, Moushumi Chatterjee, Onir, Tanuja Chandra, Neeraj Ghaywan, Sanjay Suri, Neelam Kothari, Rajeshwari Sachdeva, Varun Badola, Shweta Kawatra, Varun Grover, Shalmali_Kholgade, Rekha Bhardwaj, Simone Singh, Sona Mohapatra, Anant Mahadevan, Dalip Tahil, Shaina NC, Aleque Padamsee, Apurva Asrani, Suchitra Pillai-Malik, Purab Kohli, Adhuna Bhabani, Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil, Laxmi Narayan Tripathi and Sushant Divgikar.KASHISH since 2010 to 2016 has been organized by Solaris Pictures and co-organized by The Humsafar Trust. Since 2017, KASHISH is organized by KASHISH Arts Foundation, in association with Solaris Pictures.===Calendar===* The 1st edition of the festival was held in April 2010 at PVR Cinemas  & Alliance Française de Bombay, and screened 110 films from 25 countries. Its theme was 'See A Different World'. * The 2nd edition of the festival was held in May 2011 at Cinemax Versova & Alliance Française de Bombay, and screened 124 films from 23 countries. Its theme was 'Bigger, Bolder & Queerer'. * The 3rd edition of the festival was held in May 2012 at Cinemax Versova & Alliance Française de Bombay, and screened 120 films from 30 countries. Its theme was 'For Everyone'. * The 4th edition of the festival was held in May 2013 at Cinemax Versova & Alliance Française de Bombay, and screened 132 films from 40 countries. Its theme was 'Towards Change'. * The 5th edition of the festival was held in May 2014 at Liberty Cinema & Alliance Française de Bombay, and screened 154 films from 31 countries. Its theme was 'Dare To Dream'. * The 6th edition of the festival was held in May 2015 at Liberty Cinema, Alliance Française de Bombay & Max Mueller Bhavan, and screened 180 films from 44 countries. Its theme was 'Reaching Out, Touching Hearts'. * The 7th edition of the festival was held in May 2016 at Liberty Cinema, Alliance Française de Bombay & Max Mueller Bhavan, and screened 182 films from 53 countries. Its theme was '7 Shades of Love'. * The 8th edition of festival was held in May 2017 at Liberty Cinema & Alliance Française de Bombay, and screened 147 films from 45 countries. Its theme was 'Diverse, One'. * The 9th edition of festival was held in May 2018 at Liberty Carnival Cinemas & Metro INOX, and screened 140 films from 45 countries. Its theme was 'Together, With Pride'. *The 10th edition of festival was held in June 2019 at Liberty Carnival Cinemas & Metro INOX, and screened 160 films from 43 countries. Its theme was 'Over The Rainbow'. *The 11th edition of festival was held online in July 2020 and screened 157 films from 42 countries. Its theme was 'Moving Forward, Together'. *The 12th edition of festival was held online in August/September, 2021 and screened 221 films from 53 countries. Its theme was 'Unlock With Pride'. *The 13th edition of festival was held as a physical festival from June 1–5, 2022 at Liberty Cinema and Alliance Française de Bombay, and as an online festival from June 3–12, 2022; and screened 184 films from 53 countries. Its theme was 'Flights for Freedom'. *The 14th edition of festival was held as a physical festival from June 7–11, 2023 at Liberty Cinema and Alliance Française de Bombay, and as an online festival from June 15–26, 2023; and screened 110 films from 41 countries. Its theme was 'Be Fluid, Be You! '.===Festival jury===KASHISH Pride Film Festival has, in its attempt to mainstream queer visibility, engages a jury panel to judge the award categories. The jury has consisted of actors, directors, critics, theater and media personalities and festival curators from India and abroad.Wendell Rodricks, celebrity fashion designer, has been the judge every year from 2012 to 2020 of the KASHISH Poster Design Contest that invites designers from around the world to create the look of the festival, which will be used in posters, billboards and other promotional materials. Since 2020, after passing away of Wendell Rodricks, his husband Jerome Marrel was the judge.
Awards ===Best Narrative Feature Film===*2023: ''Lie With Me'' - Olivier Peyon | France*2022: ''Naanu Ladies'' - Shailaja Padindala | India, UK*2021: ''Forgotten Roads'' - Nicol Ruiz | Chile*2020: ''Music For The Bleeding Hearts'' - Rafael Gomes | Brazil*2019: ''Jose'' - Li Cheng | Guatemala*2018: ''Mater'' - Pablo D’Alo Abba | Argentina*2017: ''Gloria and Grace'' - Flávio R. Tambellini | Brazil*2016: ''How To Win At Checkers (Every Time)'' - Josh Kim | Thailand, USA, Indonesia*2015: ''Boys (Jongens)'' - Mischa Kamp | The Netherlands*2014: ''Tru Love'' - Kate Johnston and Shauna MacDonald | Canada*2013: ''Morgan'' - Michael Akers | USA*2012: ''My Last Round (Mi Ultimo Rounde)'' - Julio Jorquera Arriagada | Chile*2011: ''I Am'' - Onir | India===Best Documentary Feature Film===*2023: ''Mama Bears'' - Daresha Kyi | USA*2022: ''LA Queencianera'' - Pedro Peira | Mexico, USA*2021: ''Canela'' - Cecilia del Valle   Argentina*2020: ''One Taxi Ride'' - Mak CK | Mexico*2019: ''Until Porn Do Us Part'' - Jorge Pelicano | Portugal*2018: ''Boys For Sale'' - Itako | Japan*2017: ''No Dress Code Required'' - Cristina Herrera Bórquez | Mexico*2016: ''Pansy'' - Jean-Baptiste Erreca | France*2015: ''Do I Sound Gay?'' - David Thorpe | USA*2014: ''Bridegroom'' - Linda Bloodworth-Thomason | USA*2013: ''Hide and Seek'' - Saadat Munir | Pakistan, Denmark*2012: ''Let The Butterflies Fly (Chittegalu Haradali)'' - Gopal Menon | India*2011: ''We Were Here'' - David Weissman | USA*2010: ''Prodigal Sons'' - Kimberly Reed | USA===Best Documentary Short Film===*2023: ''What it Means To Be'' - Lea Luiz de Oliveira | UK*2022: ''Beirut Dreams In Colour'' - Michael Collins | Lebanon, USA*2021: ''Tracing Utopia'' - Nick Tyson & Catarina de Sousa   Portugal*2020: ''Breakwater'' - Cris Lyra | Brazil*2019: ''Laadli'' - Sudipto Kundu | India*2018: ''Little Potato'' - Wes Hurley | USA, Russia*2017: ''Naked Wheels'' - Rajesh James | India*2016: ''Transindia'' - Meera Darji | India, UK *2015: ''Novena'' - Anna Rodgers | Ireland*2014: ''Families Are Forever'' - Vivian Kleiman | USA *2013: ''Two Girls Against The Rain'' - Sopheak Sao | Cambodia*2012: ''Are We So Different (Aamra Ki Etoi Bhinno)'' - Lok Prakash | Bangladesh*2011: ''Bullied'' - Bill Brummel and Geoffrey Sharp | UK*2010: ''XXWHY'' - Dr.Bharathy Manjula | India===Best International Narrative Short Film===*2023: ''An Avocado Pit'' - Ary Zara | Portugal*2022: ''Warsha'' - Dania Bdeir | Lebanon*2021: ''Snake'' - Andrej Volkashin | Macedonia*2020: ''Touchscreen'' - Arthur Halpern | USA*2019: ''Our Way Back'' - Moshe Rosenthal | Israel*2018: ''Marguerite'' - Marianne Farley | Canada*2017: ''Stay'' - Milka Mircic Martinovic | Germany*2016: ''San Cristóbal'' -  Omar Zuniga Hidalgo | Chile*2015: ''09:55 - 11:05 Ingrid Ekman Bergsgatan 4b'' - Cristine Berglund and Sophie Vukovic | Sweden*2014: ''Naked'' - José Antonio Cortés Amunarriz | Spain*2013: ''Polaroid Girl'' - April Maxey | USA*2012: ''Through The Window (Me’ever La’chalon)'' - Chen Shumowitz | Israel*2011: ''Let The World Know About Me'' - Marianna Giordano | Argentina*2010: ''Steam'' - Eldar Rapaport | USA===Best Indian Narrative Short Film===*2023: ''Shurpankha'' - Jayesh Apte | India*2022: ''Muhafiz'' - Pradipta Ray | India*2021: ''Are We There Yet?'' - Bhanu Babbal & Kashyap Swaroop | India*2020: ''The Song We Sang'' - Aarti Neharsh | India*2019: ''The Booth'' - Rohin Ravendran Nair | India*2018: ''Ajay'' - Vikrant Dhote | India*2017: ''Maacher Jhol (Fish Curry)'' - Abhishek Verma | India*2016: ''Daarvatha (The Threshold)'' - Nishant Roy Bombarde | India*2015: ''Sundar'' - Rohan Kanawade | India and ''Mudivai Thaedum Muttrupulli (A Full Stop That Searches For Its End)'' - Vivek Vishwanathan | India*2014: ''Mitraa'' - Ravi Jadhav | India*2013: ''Urmi'' - Jehangir Jani | India*2012: The jury decided not to award any film in this category. *2011: ''Amen'' - Judhajit Bagchi and Ranadeep Bhattacharyya   India*2010: ''Lost & Found'' - Shrenik Jain | India===Riyad Wadia Award For Best Emerging Indian Filmmaker===Instituted in memory of late filmmaker Riyad Vinci Wadia, who made India’s first gay film BOMgAY, the Riyad Wadia Award for Best Emerging Indian Filmmaker is an attempt by KASHISH to recognize and nurture emerging Indian voices. *2023: Preeti Kanungo and Sourav Yadav for ''Malwa Khushan'' | India*2022: Nemil Shah for ''Dal Bhat'' | India*2021: Radhika Prasidhha for ''Begum Parvathi''| India*2020: Arun Fulara for ''Sunday''*2019: Sugandha Bansal for ''A Little More Blue''*2018: Preet for ''Gray''*2017: Rajesh James for ''Naked Wheels'' and ''Vishal Srivastava'' for ''Selfhood (Wajood)''*2016: Vikrant Dhote and Srikant Ananthakrishnan for ''Any Other Day''*2015: Vaibhav Hatkar for'' Ek Maaya Ashi Hi (A Love Such As This)''*2014: Sharon Flynn for ''I'dentity''*2013: Manava Naik for ''Dopehri''  and Rohan Kanawade for ''Lonely Walls (Ektya Bhinti)''*2012: Pradipta Ray for ''The Night Is Young (Raat Baaki)'' *2011: Shumona Banerjee for ''The Flower Bud (Kusum)''===Ismat Chughtai Award For Best Indian Woman Filmmaker===Instituted in memory of eminent Indian Urdu novelist, short story writer, liberal humanist and filmmaker Ismat Chughtai, the Ismat Chughtai Award For Best Indian Woman Filmmaker is an attempt by KASHISH to acknowledge and encourage Indian women filmmakers to tell path-breaking narratives infused with progressive, positive viewpoints. *2023: Akanksha Sharma for ''Road Blocked Ahead'' | India===Best Performance in a Lead Role===*2023: Kika Sena for ''Paloma'' | Brazil*2022: Yu Ishizuka for ''The Fish With One Sleeve'' | Japan*2021: Maria Eduardo Maia for ''Advent of Mary''| Brazil*2020: Benjamin Daimary for ''Fireflies (Jonaki Porua)'' | India*2019: Felix Maritaud for ''Sauvage'' | France*2018: Chetan Kanwar in ''Pashi'' | India*2017: Petrice Jones in ''Play The Devil'' | Trinidad & Tobago*2016: Ingkarat Damrongsakkul in ''How To Win At Checkers (Every Time)'' | Thailand, USA, Indonesia*2015: Kristina Hernandez in ''Stealth'' | USA*2014: Kate Trotter in ''Tru Love'' | Canada*2013: Crystal Annette in ''Polaroid Girl'' | USA===Best Screenplay===*2023: ''Lie With Me'' written by Olivier Peyon | France *2022: ''Muhafiz'' written by Pradipta Ray and Ashutosh Pathak | India  *2021: ''The Man With The Answers'' written by Stelios Kammitsis | Cyprus, Greece, Italy  *2019: ''Music For The Bleeding Hearts'' written by Rafael Gomes | Brazil*2019: ''Jose'' written by Li Cheng | Guatemala===Best Student Short Film===*2023: ''Jouissance'' - Sadeq Es-haqi | Iran*2022: ''The Third Solar Term'' - Zhanfei Song | China, UK*2021: ''On A Path'' - Lihi Lubetkin | Israel*2020: ''The Summer of 12'' - Kuan-Ling Kuo | Taiwan*2019: ''Three'' - Lior Soroka | Israel*2018: ''Celebrate Eileen'' - Judith Westermann | Germany*2017: ''Still Devout'' - Melissa Perez | USA===KASHISH QDrishti Film Grant===*2023: Abu Sohel Khondekar for ''Mehroon''*2022: Arvind Caulagi for ''Taps'' and Preeti Kanungo & Sourav Yadav for ''Malwa-Kushan''*2021: Bhargav Lahkar for ''The Caress'' | India*2020: Arun Fulara for ''My Mother's Girlfriend'' | India*2019: Rohin Raveendran Nair for ''The Booth'' and Sudipto Kundu for ''Laadli''*2018: Siddharth Chauhan for ''Pashi'' | India*2017: Debadrita Bose for ''Clarinets (Shehenaiiya)'' | India*2016: V. Ramanathan for ''Normalcy'' | India===Special Jury Mention===*2023: ''Ek Jagah Apni'' - Ektara Collective | India (in the category Narrative Feature)*2023: ''Law of Love'' - Barbora Chalupová | Czech Republic (in the category Documentary Feature)*2023: ''Bi The Way'' - Amir Ovadia Steklov | Israel (in the category Documentary Short)*2023: ''Our Males & Females'' - Ahmad Alyaseer | Jordan (in the category International Narrative Short)*2023: ''Preeti Kanungo'' for Malwa Khushan | India (in the category Ismat Chughtai Award for Best Indian Woman Filmmaker)*2023: ''Rahul Roye'' (Aman) and ''Ashutosh Shankar'' (Tara) | India (KASHISH QDrishti Film Grant)*2022: ''Wet Sand'' - Elene Naveriani | Georgia, Switzerland (in the category Narrative Feature)*2022: ''Coming To You'' - Gyuri Byun | South Korea (in the category Documentary Feature)*2022: ''Marcel'' - Gastón Calivari | Argentina (in the category Documentary Short)*2022: ''Dal Bhat'' - Nemil Shah | India (in the category Indian Narrative Short)*2022: ''Breathe'' - Harm van der Sanden | Netherlands (in the category International Narrative Short)*2022: ''The Fish With One Sleeve'' - Tsuyoshi Shôji | Japan (in the category International Narrative Short)*2022: ''Mazel Tov'' - Eli Zuzovsky | Israel (in the category Student Short)*2022: Sagar Minde for ''Her Canvas'' | India (in the category Riyad Wadia Award for Best Indian Emerging Filmmaker)*2022: Anureet Watta for ''Kinaara'' | India (in the category Riyad Wadia Award for Best Indian Emerging Filmmaker)*2021: ''Rebel Dykes'' - Harri Shanahan & Siân A. Williams | UK (in the category Best Documentary Feature)*2021: ''Nothing But A Human'' - Swati Jaiswal | India (in the category Best Documentary Short) *2021: ''Keep Punching'' - Kirnay Bhatt | India (in the category Best Indian Narrative Short) *2021: ''Stray Dogs Come Out At Night'' - Humza Bangash | Pakistan (in the category Best International Narrative Short) *2021: ''Today'' - Francis Chillet | France (in the category Best Student Short) *2020: ''March For Dignity'' - John Eames | UK, Georgia (in the category Best Documentary Feature)*2020: ''My Brother Is A Mermaid'' - Alfie Dale | UK (in the category Best International Narrative Short)*2020: ''We Are Dancers'' - Joe Morris | UK (in the category Best International Narrative Short)*2020: ''Neon Hearts'' - Ana Jakimska | Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of (in the category Best Student Short)*2019: Amruta Shubhash in ''The Booth'' | India  (in the category Best Performance in a Lead Role)*2019: Parna Pethe in ''The Booth'' | India  (in the category Best Performance in a Lead Role)*2019: Lior Ashkenazi in ''Our Way Back'' | Israel  (in the category Best Performance in a Lead Role)*2019: ''Shaadi Ke Kapde'' - Sonal Giani | India  (in the category Riyad Wadia Award for Best Emerging Indian Filmmaker)*2019: ''Rangeen'' - Shaikh Ayaz | India  (in the category Riyad Wadia Award for Best Emerging Indian Filmmaker)*2019: ''Hands & Wings'' - Sungbin Byun | Republic of Korea (in the category Best Student Short)*2019: ''Prisoner Of Society'' - Rati Tsiteladze | Georgia (in the category Best Documentary Short)*2019: ''Visibles'' - Enrique Rey | Spain (in the category Best Documentary Short)*2019: ''Fifth Floor On The Left'' - Renata Lucic | Croatia (in the category Best Screenplay)*2018: ''Birds Of Paradise'' - Rahul MM | India (in the category Riyad Wadia Award for Best Emerging Indian Filmmaker)*2018: ''Sunken Plum'' - Gu Xiang | China (in the category Best Performance in a Lead Role)*2018: ''Sunken Plum'' - Roberto F. Canuto & Xiaoxi Xu | China (in the category Best International Narrative Short Film)*2018: ''Goldfish'' - Yorgos Angelopoulos | Greece (in the category Best International Narrative Short Film)*2018: ''Mathias'' - Clara Stern | Austria (in the category Best Student Short Film)*2017: ''Beautiful Figure'' - Hajni Kis | The Netherlands (in the category Best Student Short Film)*2016: ''Beautiful Something'' - Brian Sheppard | USA (in the category Best Performance in a Lead Role)*2016:  Antonio Altamirano ''San Cristóbal'' | Chile (in the category Best Performance in a Lead Role)*2016: ''Trade Queen'' - David Wagner | Germany (in the category Best International Narrative Short Film)*2016: ''Technical Difficulties of Intimacy'' - Joel Moffett | USA (in the category Best International Narrative Short Film)*2016: ''That's My Boy'' - Akhil Satyan | India (in the category Riyad Wadia Award for Best Emerging Indian Filmmaker)*2012: ''We The Outsiders... (Aamhi Ka Tisre...)'' - Ramesh Laxman More | India (in the category Riyad Wadia Award for Best Emerging Indian Filmmaker)*2010: ''Holding Hands'' - Tonnette Stanford and Katherine Wilkinson | Australia (in the category International Narrative Short)*2010: ''Flying Inside My Body'' - Sushmit Ghosh, Rintu Thomas, Sumit Sharma and Ajeeta Chowhan | India (in the category Documentary Short)*2010: ''Speak Up! It is Not My Fault'' - Deepika Lal | India (in the category Documentary Short)*2010: ''Dirty Magazines'' - Jay Levy | USA (in the category International Narrative Short)*2010: ''I Am Gay (Jag Ar Bog)'' - Nicolos Kolovos | Sweden (in the category International Narrative Short)===Special Jury Award===*2012: ''Rites of Passage'' - Jeff Roy | USA*2011: ''I Am'' - Sonali Gulati | USA===KASHISH Coffee Break Audience Award===*2013 onwards this competition was not held. *2012: ''Logging Out'' - Nakshatra Bagwe | India*2011: ''Nothing Happened'' - Julia Kots | USA===Best Poster Design===*2023 : Tanishka Jain | Mumbai, India*2022 : Sreejith Mohan | Kochi, India*2021 : Ajoy Kumar Das | Mumbai, India*2020 : Joyston Moreira | London, UK*2019 : Domenico De Monte | Milan, Italy*2013 : Ashutosh Vyas | Mumbai, India*2017 : Benny Mathew | Mumbai, India*2016 : Ajoy Kumar Das | Mumbai, India*2015 : Niharika Rastogi | New Delhi, India*2014 : Punith Mahesh | Hyderabad, India*2013 : Prachi Patil-Kotkar | Mumbai, India*2012 : S Ayyappa | Vijayawada, India===KASHISH Rainbow Warrior Award===*2023 : Onir | Mumbai, India*2022 : Cory Walia | Mumbai, India*2019 : Hoshang Merchant | Hyderabad, India*2018 : Pawan Dhall | Kolkata, India*2017 : Laxmi Narayan Tripathi | Mumbai, India and Manavendra Singh Gohil | Rajpipla, India*2016 : Ruth Vanita | Montana, USA and (late) Saleem Kidwai| Lucknow, India*2015 : (late) Betu Singh | New Delhi, India*2014 : (late) Wendell Rodricks | Goa, India and Ashok Row Kavi | Mumbai, India===KASHISH Rainbow Champion Award===*2023 : Kinnar Asmita*2022 : Tweet Foundation*2019 : The Humsafar Trust
See also * List of LGBT film festivals
References
External links *