Kashish 2016 to have 41 films in competition

Mumbai, May 10 (IANS) The seventh Kashish Mumbai International Queer Film Festival will see 41 films competing for top awards.

To be held from May 25-29, the festival will screen 182 films from 53 countries and will be held at three venues here at Liberty Cinema, Alliance Francaise de Bombay and Max Mueller Bhavan.

“They are not just LGBTQ films, but films that have a new storytelling edge to them. Every year Kashish tries to raise the bar, and this year the films in competition in seven categories are definitely world class,” festival director Sridhar Rangayan said in a statement.

A jury comprising filmmakers and actors will judge the seven competition categories, which include Best Narrative Feature Film, Best Documentary Feature Film, Best Documentary Short Film, Best International Narrative Short Film, Best Indian Narrative Short Film, Riyad Wadia Award for Best Emerging Indian Filmmaker and Best Performance in a Lead Role.

Veteran actor Anupam Kher’s acting school Actor Prepares will sponsor cash awards of Rs 30,000 for the Best Narrative Feature Film and Rs 20,000 each for the Best Indian Narrative Short Film and the Best Performance in a Lead Role.

The winner of the Riyad Wadia Award for Best Emerging Indian Filmmaker will win a cash prize of Rs 15,000 sponsored by Wadia Movietone. The Best Indian short film at Kashish also gets to compete for the Iris Prize in Britain which carries a cash prize of 25,000 pounds.

"Special attention is given to those dealing with issues faced by LGBTQ youth in a positive, uplifting manner; or act as a catalyst for a discussion; and also reiterate this year's theme - '7 SHADES OF LOVE',” said Saagar Gupta, director of programming.

In the Narrative Feature category, four films compete for the top award.In the Documentary Feature category, three films compete for the award. Twenty three short films will compete in the International Narrative Short Category and six films will compete in the Documentary Short Film category.