KASHISH Mumbai Queer Film Festival kicks off; Loev to be the closing film

KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival  returns for its eighth edition in May 2017. [caption id=“attachment_3475132” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Kashish 2017. Image Courtesy: http://mumbaiqueerfest.com[/caption] Voted as one of the Top five LGBT Film Festival in the world, KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival is South Asia’s biggest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) film festival and the only LGBT film festival in India to be held in a mainstream theater. It is also the first Indian LGBT festival to be held with approval by the Information & Broadcasting Ministry, Government of India. The film festival is scheduled to be held between May 24-May 28, 2017, at two iconic venues in South Mumbai – Liberty Cinema and Alliance Francaise De Bombay. There will be a plethora of films that will be showcased in the festival. Some of the most noteworthy films to be screened are as follows: 1) Signature Move (Opening film) Director: Jennifer Reeder 82 mins / USA / English / Narrative Feature 2) Apricot Groves  Director: Pouria Heidary Oureh 80 mins / Armenia / Armenian with English subtitles / Narrative Feature 3)  White Nights (Velutha Rathrikal)  Director: Razi Muhammed 130 mins / India / Malayalam with English subtitles / Narrative Feature 4) Transitioning: Transgender Children  Directors: Roser Oliver, Lluís Montserrat 52 mins / Spain / Spanish with English subtitles / Documentary Feature 5) The Victim  Director: Basil Dearden 101 mins / UK / English / Narrative Feature [caption id=“attachment_3475312” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Kashish 2017 - Films. Image courtesy: Facebook[/caption] 6) Chronicles of Hari (Harikatha Prasangal)  Director: Ananya Kasaravalli 105 mins / India / Kannada with English subtitles / Narrative Feature 7) Only Men Go To The Grave  Director: Abdulla Al Kaabi 80mins / UAE / Arabic / Narrative Feature 8) Play The Devil  Director: Maria Govan 89 mins / Trinidad & Tobago / English / Narrative Feature 9) Jonathan Director: Piotr J. Lewandowski 99 mins / Germany / German with English subtitles / Narrative Feature 10) Loev (closing film)  Director: Sudhanshu Saria 92 mins / India / English / Narrative Feature In the 8th edition of the festival, 147 films from 45 countries will be screened over five days. Of these 51 films will compete in the eight competition categories for top awards that carry total cash awards of Rs 2.25 lakhs. The jury panel for KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival  includes the likes of screenwriter Anjum Rajabali, actor Lubna Salim, TV Producer and writer Vinta Nanda, editor Jabeen Merchant and writer Aseem Chhabra. Roy Wadia will be present as additional jury member. The “Country in Focus” this year at the 8th KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival is the United Kingdom. KASHISH is collaborating with British Film Institute (BFI) to commemorate LGBT50 – that marks the 50 years of decriminalization of homosexuality. The schedule and other details of the film festival can be found in their website.