In Mumbai, Quir people have a busy social calendar every June, which is named as Pride Month to celebrate the June 1969 Stonewell rebellion in New York. Its anniversary is now celebrated by queues and colleagues in many parts of the world, including Mumbai, through many incidents that bring the community together.
While the most visible face of quir political and creative expression is a pride march, the Kashish Pride Film Festival reminds us every year that a meeting of cinefiles can also be a powerful platform for social change. Centered at three places from 4 to 8 June – Cinepolis in Andheri, Auditorium of St. Andrew in Bandra and Alliance Frances in Churchgate – it enabled audiences from different parts of the city to enjoy the celebration.
Sridhar Rangayan and Sagar Gupta, who have been partners for three decades and also married the Supreme Court of India, who are the driving forces behind the festival, as petitioners in the case of marriage equality. “There is a serious funding crunch, with a backlash against quarrous rights everywhere in the world, but we are grateful to all those who believe in our reason to move forward and support us,” Rangyaan said, who is the director of the festival.
Gupta, Kashish’s artistic director, said, “Catering for Indian sensations, and highlighting local audiences for international cinema. We are able to provide a platform to many emerging Indian filmmakers and we are able to provide a platform to many emerging Indian filmmakers and Spain, Germany, Iran, USA, Serbia, Peru, Uzbekistan, Izbekistan, Izbekistan, ICOLN, Eklas, Eklas, Eklaas, Eklaas, Eklaas, Eklaas, Eklas, Ekla The Islam, Line-up included 152 films from 48 countries and 12 competition categories.
Dalit non-binary filmmaker Shoi’s documentary Project Prio Seeing the experiences of people of caste and sexuality shapes the audience itself. For the hero of Shoi, the intersection is not a discussion to throw into an academic discussions; This is an integral part of his life. Shoi said, “I am a line of lunar community in Krishnanagar, West Bengal. I did not grow up to see people like me on screen, so the film came from a selfish place.” The work uses the quotes of Audrey Lord and Bell Hooks, emphasizing the history of solidarity between African American and Dalit activists.
Oner’s new film We are Fahim and Karun Pushed the audience to think about the impact of armed struggle on people queuing up in love. Located in a village near the India-Pakistan border in Kashmir, it shows how a Kerala’s security officer and a tour guide in Kashmir find a place in each other’s hearts. Like all epic love stories, it seems doom from the beginning, but it does not prevent these youth from giving a chance to their love. One of them is a Muslim, and the other is a Hindu. Faith is an important part of his life. This gives them strength but never becomes an issue between them. Political turmoil is one that keeps them separate.
Another film that hit a raga was Abhijeet P’s documentary I am a ravatiWhich focuses on the life of Trans activist A Revathi, who works with Sangama, a Bangalore -based NGO. In the film, she talks about violence from her uncle during her infection with her guru, Chellas and Guru Bhia in the Hijra community about violence and sexual harassment on police stations. Most importantly, the film celebrates its loving relationship with its dog Rocky.
During the discussion after the screening, Revathi said, “An assistant family is the foundation for a person’s goodness. If the parents stand for their children and love them, no one else can dare to lift any finger or say something that is out of line.” He also appreciated the director of the film for his commitment to tell his story. He said, “He is not from our community, but he has done a lot. He has spent his money because he believes our issues are worth talking. His wife sold her jewelery to contribute,” he said.
Sunita Malpani’s short film Because An impression was also left due to its latest story. While one queue is not new about the relationship where one partner is out and the other is closed, this film is a depiction of disability to separate the film, without a lack of it without equality. Here the capable person is one who is worried and full of self-doubt. The film also dives in emotional complications that can arise when people want to take their relationship one step further, and also introduce their partner to their family.
On the International Front, Irish filmmaker Darren Thornton’s film Four mothers The four mothers and their queues offered a humorous offer on the relationship between children, which are all adults with their own life in addition to home care duties. A novelist, who is going to visit a book tour to the United States, discovers that his friends have left for Spain for a proud ceremony. Apart from arranging for his mother, he is also going to take care of his mothers. It is difficult to meet their demands but he cannot lose his cool.
American filmmaker Shruti Parekh Short Zari It stood out to find out that away from western construction, it thrives in cultural contexts. In this film, a young American Quir woman of Indian origin visits India for a wedding. She is being said to wear a saree because it means that her mother and sister are in accordance with the intact gender norms. When she is dragged at a saree shop, she meets a salesman who models the saris for customers. Later, he learns that he is also a drag artist with a large social media. Through this film, Parekh challenges power dynamics that exist in queues. Quir people of North America and English -speaking urban quir Indians often believe that people who do not have the same cultural capital and need to get rid of their existence. Here, the Indian seller helps in gaining confidence to the privileged American woman.
SebastianDirected by Finnish-British filmmaker Mikco Machele, it was also worth watching. Here, a young writer moonlight as a sex worker to gather research for his first novel. Switching between these two professional identities is not as smooth as it would like. The film highlights the questions of safety and consent in quir sexual encounters, especially when they are paid. In addition, it persuads the audience to think not only as a writer, but also as a sex worker to determine the possible threats of being unable to determine the professional boundaries.
Japanese filmmaker Satoko Nagamura documentary Two mothers Performed individual visits to gay joints, who have chosen as mothers with the help of aided reproductive technology. Filmmaker himself is a gay navigating the joys and challenges of paternity in Japanese society, which holds a high premium on conformity.
Talking about parenting, Bhutanese filmmaker Karma Jerry’s feature film Aum Penjor A transgender revolves around the relationship between the singer who performs in clubs, and her adopted children. In a society where her own gender identity lives in margin, she finds the ability to take care of another life. The abandoned child whom she welcomes in her home helps her to discover a maternal tendency, which she never imagined.
After watching nutritious and authentic quir cinema in Kashish, it is difficult to return to the mainstream Bollywood and Hollywood rental that is engaged in the censorship of tokenist representation and quir sexuality. The festival is a community place where the people of the queue come themselves, wear clothes that shared new friendships, foods, shared food, appreciate the creativity of the queue, and sing and sing.
Panel discussion was held on trans roles, casting of trans actors in queues youth and mental health and the depiction of the community in the popular culture of mainstream. Quir filmmaker and podcaster Ashish Sawani said, “Deepa Mehta’s Fire It was banned because people thought that if the wedding institution saw the queuing characters, it would be uprooted. We have seen the characters directly for so many years; It is a miracle that we have not been straight yet. ,
Such a Saxi banquet made the festival a funny place. Lauren Robinson aka Toto, a non-binary actor who acted in the web series UnmatchedIn the film industry, people like them attracted attention to the lack of mentarship and also talked about the prevailing lack of imagination among filmmakers. “I am a non-binary. I also want to play male and female roles. Instead of assuming that I can only play a limited number of roles, they should creatively think about how to use makeup and costumes to expand the limit of possibilities.”
Filmed filmmakers like Guneet Monga, Payal Kapadia, Aruna Raje Patil, Devashish Makhija, Vikramaditya Motwene, Anand Patvardon, Bishkha Dutt, Renuka Shahne and Tanuja Chandra were heartbroken to show as consultants, consultants.
A advisory board member, filmmaker and teacher Vivek Vaswani said, “We need a lot of people from the Hindi film industry to stand with us. Moral support is not enough; We need film stars so that they can open their purse and return the festival with money.”
It would also be very good if the straight and ceeled actors who have played the LGBTQIA+ letters do bare minimum and give back to the community.
Chintan Girish Modi is a journalist, teacher and literary critic. He can be reached on Instagram and X on @Chintanwriting.
