BQFF -It's about right

Wanted! Queer themed films for the Bangalore Queer Film Fest!Please spread the word to any film-makers/ studios that  you know.Contact 08041231340 / 08041231345 for submission details

The next important thing is the Second Bangalore Queer Film Festival.

Date: Fri Apr 10 - Sat Apr 11

Time: 9:00 AM - 10:30 PM

The first BQFF

The first edition of the Bangalore Queer Film Festival was held in Bangalore on 10 and 11 April, 2009. The event had a tightly packed schedule.More than 20 feature, short and documentary films were exhibited alongside panel discussions on being out at the workplace and short performance pieces using drama, dance, Sufi music and poetry.

Bangalore has hosted film festivals on themes related to lesbian, gay,bisexual and transgender (LGBT or Queer) communities since 2003.Although they were small events, since their transformation into The Bangalore Queer Film Festival (BQFF) in April 2009, held at the Alliance Francaise, the festivals made Bangalore a destination for international Queer films.

The festival brings a wide spectrum of queer international films together at one venue including award winning
movies such as Wong Karwai's Happy Together, Gus Van Sant's 'Mala Noche', critically acclaimed documentaries like ' Dangerous Living' and 'It's still elementary and also brings focus to Indian queer experiences through the works of Indians such as Sonali Gulati, Sachin Kundalkarand Priya Sen. The festival takes on cinema beyond the 'token portrayals for comedic effect' or as objects of curiosity . It explores multiple dimensions of queer experience through domestic and international queer documentaries, movies and short films.

[The still is from the film 'Gulabi Aina' produced by Solaris Pictures, arguably India's first 'Queer' movie, it has been shown on screens abroad, but is not released in India]

Organisers

BQFF 2010 is organised by Good As You (GAY), SWABHAVA Trust and We're Here and Queer (WHAQ!). GAY (www.goodasyou.in) is a support group (est.1994) for LGBT people in Bangalore and is one of the oldest supportgroups in India. SWABHAVA Trust (est. 1999) is a non-profit,non-governmental organisation working with LGBT issues, including providing access to support services in Bangalore. Both GAY and Swabhava have co-hosted previous queer film festivals in Bangalore.

This year,another group called We're Here and Queer (WHAQ!), a queer women's support group (estd. 2009) is also a co-organiser. GAY and WHAQ!regularly organise film screenings at their weekly meetings. All the groups are non-funded and operate entirely on donations.

Patna Festival

Though Patna in Bihar hasn't hosted a Queer Film Festival, it is important to note that, since the year 2002, the issues around alternative sexuality have regularly featured in the All Bihar Low Cost Film Festival, held every two years at Ravi Bharati, Patna. The event is held every two years.

In 2006, Asish Sawhney's "Happy Hookers" was premeired. In 2008, "Our family", a documentary on transgendered communities in Tamil  nadu, made by Anjali Monteiro and  jayashankar was featured as well as several other indian made low cost documentaries and student films on the subject.

This year, the 'Abhivyakti'  festival is scheduled for the last week of April, and as is the tradition, will feature inclusive documentaries and short films on a wide range of issues.