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April 22-25th, 2022
Shorts Program C - LGBTQ+ Stories - Reaching For Love
India, Pakistan I 94 mins I Coming of Age, Romance,
Drama I English, Hindi, Urdu, Marathi w/ Eng subtitles
NOTE: This is an online exclusive program.
Stories of love, family, and connection from the LGBTQ+ community. This year's selections come from a range of filmmakers and primarily feature women and non-binary characters at their center.
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FEATURING:
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The Song We Sang (dir. Aarti Neharsh)
On a festive Navratri night, two women may have the chance to fall for one another.
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A Coup (dir. Areeba Naveed)​​
When a girl comes out to her biased psychologist in 1983, he invites her parents for an intervention.
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U for Usha ( dir. Rohan Kanawade)
A single mother falls for a local schoolteacher in a way she never could have imagined.
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Sheer Qorma( dir. Faraz Arif Ansari)
A queer couple travel to family seeking acceptance.
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My Mother's Girlfriend ( dir. Arun Fulara)
Renuka is in love with Sadiya, but her adult son doesn't know of her new partner.
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About the Artist(s)
Aarti Neharsh is an award-winning filmmaker whose debut, THE SONG WE SANG, traveled the globe winning prestigious awards like 'Best Indian Narrative Short' at Kashish MIQFF, and the Audience Choice Awards at Indian Film Festival of LA and Dharamshala Int' Film Festival. After the success of her first short, she is now in the process of developing her first feature as a writer/director with Green Chutney Films.
Faraz Arif Ansari is a Muslim, gay, non-binary Indian filmmaker known for writing and directing the multi-award winning LGBTQ+ shorts, SISAK and SHEER QORMA. Ansari also wrote the screenplay for Indo-Pakistan Peace Project Short Feature, SILVAT, directed by Tanuja Chandra. When not behind the camera, they conduct cinema and theatre sessions for underprivileged children and the trans community in Mumbai & Delhi.
Areeba Naveed is an independent filmmaker currently working as a freelancer. She recently completed her degree at the National College of Arts, Pakistan, where she graduated as Valedictorian with a Distinction. Her short film, A Coup, played at Diorama India and the Seoul Int'l PRIDE Film Festival.
After completing a diploma in Interior Design, Rohan Kanawade spent as much time as possible honing his storytelling craft, despite no formal training in filmmaking. In 2010
he left his full-time job and invested his time in writing & direction. Film after film, the quality of his storytelling improved, and in 2017 his short KHIDKEE was selected by Indian Panorama of IFFI, Goa. Impressed by his work, mythology writer Devdutt Pattanaik extended financial support to Rohan’s next short U FOR USHA.
Rohan is currently developing his first feature film.
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Arun Fulara is a writer and filmmaker based out of Mumbai. He is known for his beloved LGBTQ shorts, SUNDAY ('20) and MY MOTHER’S GIRLFRIEND ('21) which travelled widely to festivals around the world including Frameline, Kashish Mumbai Int'l Queer FF, & GAZE Dublin. MY MOTHER’S GIRLFRIEND won the prestigious Kashish QDrishti Film Grant awarded by Lotus Visual Productions & the Kashish Arts Foundation.
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He’s previously assisted acclaimed filmmaker Devashish Makhija and is currently developing his own first feature, MY HOME IS IN THE HILLS.
Trailer
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