Now Queer Nazaria!

International LGBTI Film Festival, Mumbai in collaboration with Majlis


02 - 04 April 2010

Good Heavens! It's raining Queer Film Festivals!

My peepers practically popped out of their sockets as I discovered  yeat another announcement for a Queer Film Festival, this time called Queer Nazaria!

"Much has changed in the years since Mumbai last saw an international LGBTI film festival. The queer scene here is flourishing, with activist groups and social networking sites, parties and cultural events, two successful Queer Azadi Mumbai marches, the opening of the city’s first queer store…and, arching over it all like a brilliant rainbow, the recent historic Delhi High Court judgment that brought - to all who look or dress or feel or desire differently from the majority - recognition, dignity and hope", say the organisers.

That hope was the starting point for Queer Nazariya. Nazariya implies a way of seeing: so other perspectives, then, to tell unknown and rarely told stories that look at the world from the vantage point of queer – of those who are, because of their gender expressions or sexual preferences, treated as invisible or made to feel their identities are inappropriate and their lived experiences invalid. This continues to be the case everywhere, but legally things are changing and culturally, too, there are welcome shifts. Queer Nazariya 2010 aims to foreground these changes and shifts, through vibrant cinematic works from around the world that affirm rather than deny, enable conversation rather than impose silence, celebrate rather than negate.

Smriti Nevatia & Sophie Parisse , the curators of this festival, bring you engaging documentary and fiction films from 13 countries, and chosen to represent a wide range of queer issues. A highlight of the festival is a specially curated package of films from South Africa. "You don’t have to be L or G or B or T or I or Q to attend our screenings and talks, but you do need to be an FWW (Friend and Well-Wisher!) – this festival is quite full up already and has no room at all for any airing of prejudice or hate," says the brochure.

Queer Nazariya 2010 is happy to welcome Nodi Murphy, Director of South Africa’s Out In Africa Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, along with other friends from Bangalore, Delhi, Pune and Bombay who will facilitate interesting and important discussions.

There are some 'challenging' photo exhibits by Kabi, memorabilia from last year’s march, and an installation by the queer feminist group LABIA on the milestones in yhe LGBTcollective struggles and journeys towards a better future.