29 May INDIA’S MOST PROMINENT LGBT FILM FESTIVAL IS BACK
Kashish, India’s most prominent LGBT film festival, is back for its second year. The second edition of India’s biggest LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) event opened on Wednesday evening.
Launched last year as India’s first ever mainstream LGBT film festival, Kashish 2010 screened 109 queer films from around the world over four days. This time around, the organisers have upped the numbers with 123 films, that will be screened till May 29.
Speaking at the inauguration, festival director Sridhar Rangayan said, “We have a huge collection of films from around the world and some stimulating panel discussions in store for the audiences.”
Support for the city’s queer community has been steadily increasing, and Kashish has gone the extra mile insupporting and promoting queer films and their filmmakers, using, as Rangayan puts it, “cinema as a means to understand what being queer means today”.
Aside from screening films, Kashish has also organised discussions, interactions with filmmakers and a number of other cultural activities, all aimed at increasing awareness about a community that has, for far too long, been in the shadow.