The 11th edition of the Kashish Queer film festival 2020 will be going virtual this year. It is South Asia’s biggest LGBTQIA+ film festival that is scheduled to start from July 22-30 and it will showcase 157 films from 42 countries online around the globe. The slate of the films has included 30 films from India, as well as films from countries like Iran, Iceland, Malaysia, Tunisia, Puerto Rico, Macedonia, Lebanon , Belarus and many more countries.
Sridhar Rangayan the director of the festival says, “We are extremely delighted to launch the registration for the Kashish 2020 Virtual with a full slate of films as well as panel discussions,filmmaker Q and As, etc, almost replicating the ground event. Only this year not only Mumbaikars but people across India and the world can participate in the festival and enjoy LGBTQIA+ films, discussions and performances.”
Sagar Gupta the director of programming commented, “We are thrilled that almost 95 per cent of the filmmakers whose films were selected to screen at the ground festival, agreed to screen with us at our online festival. We are overwhelmed by the response from the filmmakers and we are really glad to reach their films out to the world. This speaks a lot about their trust and support towards the festival,”
The organising committee has also emphasised that 60%of the income from the registrations after deduction of platform expenses will be donated to LGBTQ organsiations in India working for the relief of the LGBTQ individuals in the times of COVID-19.
