Coronavirus Outbreak: Kashish Mumbai International Queer Film Festival to be held online from 22 to 30 July

The 11th edition of Kashish Mumbai International Queer Festival is going virtual in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. A total of 157 films from 42 countries will be showcased at the film festival, making it the first Indian film festival to come up with a slate of new programmes for this year.

(Click here to follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak)

Here is the announcement

According to The New Indian Express, festival director Sridhar Rangayan said, "These are challenging times, and we at Kashish love challenges. Considering the safety and well-being of everyone, this year we have decided to hold the film festival online. We are committed to bringing our LGBTQIA+ stories out to the world, as a means of healing and empowerment. The world must see us, in all our splendid colours, and the show must go on."

This year, the slate includes 30 films from India, as well as features from countries like Belarus, Iran, Iceland, Lebanon, Macedonia, Malaysia, Puerto Rico, Tunisia, among others, writes Indo Asian News Service.

Festival ambassador Celina Jaitly said in a press statement, "Films, movies, cinema—whatever terminology you want to use, the industry is magical and enormously influential in everyone’s lives. In times like these, it is even more important not to lose that magic."

According to the actress, the film festival will always be a platform to raise awareness and stand up for the rights of the LGBTQ community.

Seasons Greetings, a film, which stars Jaitly is a part of the festival line-up.

Organisers of Kashish have said 60 percent of the income from registrations, after deduction of platform expenses will be donated to LGBTQ organisations in India for their relief work during the COVID-19 pandemic, reports Times of India,.

The festival will run live from 22 to 30 July.