Corporate house and Consulates support KASHISH 2021

South Asia’s biggest LGBTQIA+ film festival is organizing its 12^th edition from August 19^th to September 5^th

by Suman Gupta

The12th edition of KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film festival, South Asia’s biggest LGBTQIA+ film festival, opened online on August 19^th and will continue till September 5^th spread over 12 days of weekend screenings and weekday panel discussions and filmmaker Q&As. The festival will screen 221 films from 53 countries and is available across India and also across the world.

Corporate houses like Morgan Stanley, IBM and General Mills are continuing their support to the festival, as well as Consulate General of Canada and Québec Government Office in Mumbai.

“We are really fortunate and humbled to receive support by so many different corporate houses and consulates who are continuing their partnership with the festival for years. It is indeed a challenging times now with the pandemic having pushed back so many efforts and initiatives. So we are all the more thankful to this continued support to bring the best of LGBTQIA+ films from around the world to add a little cheer  to our lives and make us a little more sensitive to the narratives of the community”, said festival director Sridhar Rangayan.

Morgan Stanley stands firm in their support to the festival as Angel Partner for the third year in succession. “At Morgan Stanley, we have always been focused on diversity and inclusion and last year announced it as a new core value to make explicit our commitment to cultivating and supporting a diverse workforce, representative of the society we live in,” said Rajat Mathur, India Head of Human Resources, Morgan Stanley. “We are proud to sponsor KASHISH for the third consecutive year and hope the festival provides a platform and opportunity for everyone from the LGBTQ+ community to be heard and represented as equals.”

IBM who have been supporting the festival for almost nine years now are the Venture Partners for KASHISH 2021. “Fostering a culture of diversity and inclusion is important to our company’s success. At IBM, we are taking a number of decisive steps to create a culture where employees of all backgrounds can thrive. We are also determined to address the widening disparities in society today. Certain groups have suffered disproportionately from the global pandemic and the economic upheaval it has caused. The events of the past year have reaffirmed IBM’s commitment to address long-standing social injustices, accessibility gaps, and growing socioeconomic differences. Diversity and inclusion can help propel innovation and expand access to opportunity. Our association with KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival every year showcases and demonstrates our shared values & vision towards diversity, equity and inclusion”, said Prachi Rastogi, Diversity & Inclusion Leader, IBM Asia Pacific.

General Mills who started their association with the festival last year with a screening for their employees, have come out in full support for the festival as Venture Partner.  “General Mills is proud to be associated with KASHISH International Queer Film Festival. KASHISH has been our key partner in creating awareness, compassion, respect and allyship for the LGBTQ+ community amongst our employees and we are excited to take our engagement to the next level. Art and Cinema are powerful mediums that transcend boundaries and break down societal barriers, so I am glad that this platform shines a light on the LGBTQ+ community, inspires us to embrace our differences and create a more equitable and inclusive place for all”, said Nupur Bedi, HR Director, General Mills.

Staying true to their core values of diversity and inclusion, the Consulate General of Canada continues their support as Venture Partner to support screening of several Canadian films and a panel discussion ON WHOSE SHOULDERS WE STAND – Remembering Theirstories, Herstories and Histories.

Québec Government Office in Mumbai is supporting the festival as Venture Partner by supporting a program of Francophone LGBTQIA+ films as well as a panel discussion titled LGBTQ+ FILM FESTIVALS – The Importance of Community Building. “Québec is committed to LGBTQ rights and fights to recognize, confront and denounce all violence and discrimination against LGBTQ people. That’s why the Québec Government Office in Mumbai is proud to partner with the KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival for the 4th consecutive year, with the screening of the short film package ‘Queerment Québec’ in association with the Montreal Queer film festival ‘Image + nation culture queer ‘. We need to work together to advance LGBTQ rights. Hence, international mobilization is important!”, said Francis Paradis, Consul & Director, Québec Government Office in Mumbai.

The festival this year is also supported by Whistling Woods, Consulate General of Sweden, AtEase, Embassy of Israel and Consulate General of the Kingdom of Belgium in Mumbai as Supporting Partners.

“We are proud supporting partners and look forward to this years’ edition of the KASHISH International Queer Film  Festival. Promoting equal rights and respect for LGBTI  persons is an important part of Sweden’s global Drive for  Democracy. The right to be who you are and love who you  want is key to freedom. Love is love”, said Anna Lekvall, Consul General, Consulate General of Sweden in Mumbai.

“AtEase, an inclusive mental health platform by Lilac Insights, is proud to support KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival and engage in a dialogue around mental health for LGBTQIA+ individuals, specifically queer cis-women, transwomen and non-binary individuals. We recognise the systemic factors that interact with our mental health and we aim to create a safe, trauma-informed and queer affirmative space for LGBTQIA+ individuals”, said Richa Vashista, Chief Mental Health Expert, AtEase.

“We are very excited to present an Israeli documentary film Marry Me However and several other films at the KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival. Israel, especially Tel Aviv is considered the LGBTQ capital in the region and we are proud to participate in this festival.  We hope you will like these films”, said Kobbi Shoshani, Consul General of Israel in Mumbai.

“It gives me great pleasure that we in Belgium can look back at our track record. We were the second country to allow gay marriages in the world, and one of the first to legalize homosexuality. This move has ensured that gay people in Belgium have the same marital rights as anyone else. This sentiment is even reflected in Belgian society, as it was one of the first countries to have an openly gay Prime Minister. We are happy to support the panel discussion ‘Marriage Equality’ at KASHISH 2021, said Pierre-Emmanuel Brusselmans, Consul General, Consulate General of the Kingdom of Belgium in Mumbai

“Whistling Woods International is thrilled to announce its continued association with the KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival. This past year brought along challenging times, not just for us and our loved ones, but for the world as a whole. During these times, it was creativity and diversity that gave all of us the hope for a brighter tomorrow. This belief is at the core of everything that WWI and KASHISH stand for, and by showcasing this wonderful festival through the virtual platform, we prove that the power of creativity is unstoppable, even during these unprecedented times. Like previous years, WWI is privileged to sponsor the Best Student Film Award, inspiring and encouraging the future filmmakers to bring to fore phenomenal stories of one love. I would like to encourage all the patrons of KASHISH to stay home, stay safe, and prepare yourself for a fantastic expression of the power of cinema”, said Meghna Ghai Puri, President of Whistling Woods International.

Whistling Woods International is also an Award Partner alongwith Lotus Visual Productions, Anticlock Films, Wadia Movietone, K.F.Patil Charitable Trust, Abhay Kulkarni and Jerome Marrel.

Out of the 221 films being screened, 55 films are in competition for a total cash award of Rs.1,90,000 in 9 film categories.

Registrations to attend KASHISH from anywhere in the world is open now and information about the programs, schedule, how to attend are all at http://mumbaiqueerfest.com