Listen to this article:

To argue that culture operates in isolation from politics is either a cop-out or delusional, or both. It is important, therefore, that we engage closely with the thinking that drives curatorial choices and programming decisions at film festivals, more so during Pride Month, which is beginning to lose its revolutionary character due to government interference and corporate involvement.

The Stonewall Uprising against police brutality and discrimination towards LGBTQ New Yorkers in June 1969, because of which we observe June as Pride Month, was not a networking mixer. It was a riot. It is in this spirit that we interviewed Sridhar Rangayan, the festival director of the Kashish Pride Film Festival in Mumbai, founded in 2010. The 17th edition of the festival opened on June 3, and will conclude on June 7. There are 153 films from 43 countries, across venues: Liberty Cinema, Alliance Française de Bombay and the National Gallery of Modern Art.

Sridhar is a film director, screenwriter and producer, known for films like Evening Shadows, Gulabi Aaina, Breaking Free and Purple Skies, and founder trustee of the Humsafar Trust.

Excerpts from the interview at the opening of the festival follow.

As we head into the 17th edition of Kashish, how do you look back at the festival’s journey in terms of achievements, lessons learnt and course corrections? What have you learnt from the feedback that you have got from the LGBTQIA community?

The only word I can think of is ‘rollercoaster’. Some years have been very good, some have been very challenging. And when I say ‘challenging’, usually two things come into play.

One is funding, of course. It has always been challenging but, in the last two-three years, it has been a nightmare. The other thing is government pushback on trans rights and same-sex marriage. It poses a challenge because, though we are not directly affiliated with the Indian government, we have to get a clearance for all the films from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It was a bit of a stress because they were previewing a lot of films, and we were wondering if all the films would be cleared. But all 153 of them got a clearance. That’s huge!

When I look back, I also think that the aspirations and appetites of the LGBTQ community in India have changed. In earlier editions of the festival, we used to program a lot of romcoms. People wanted to see sexy films on the big screen but, over the years, the interest has shifted towards films with more edgy, candid and realistic content with a worldview. It seems that people who come to the festival don’t want fluff any more, so our programming has shifted a lot.

Like you said, we do take feedback from the community, so Kashish has become more inclusive in terms of the marginalised communities within the LGBTQ community. This year, more than 50% of the films focus on lesbian, trans and non-binary communities. They were not so well represented in previous editions of the festival. We used to receive fewer submissions of films about lesbian, bisexual and trans experiences. That number has gone up. We also have a panel discussion with transfeminine as well as transmasculine persons around the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Act, which was passed by the parliament this year.

In terms of achievements, Kashish is being recognised as an important platform with Indian and international films premiering at the festival. It provides not only an exhibition space but also a forum for networking, outreach, funding and distribution. We have........

© The Wire