The second edition of the three-day Bangalore Queer Film Festival (BQFT) will open here on Friday, with the screening of a documentary, Muxes.
The festival will provide a venue to screen films on themes related to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex (LGBTI or Queer) communities. Entry to the fest, which will be hosted at the Alliance Francaise, is free of cost.
One of the highlights of the festivals is the India premiere of A Single Man, which celebrates uninterrupted love and highlights the seemingly smaller moments in life. The film has Colin Firth in the lead.
“It (the movie) has stunning visuals and is worth watching,” says Vinay Chandran, one of the organisers of the fest. “The movie will be released in India in April. But PVR has agreed to premiere the film at the festival.”
Besides screening an array of 52 movies, the festival will also host panel discussions, cultural performances and an exhibition of photographs. Unlike the previous year, the festival will have a poetry reading session this time.
The panel discussions will revolve around pressing issues the LGBTI community faces today in India. “It seems to be the right opportunity to look at the Section 377 ruling of the Delhi high court and to follow it up with the objections being raised by various religious factions,” says Chandran. The second discussion will look at the queer women issue.
The organisers have gone through the unenviable task of selecting 52 movies from more than 100 entries representing over 15 countries.“We have tried to make sure that the range of films gives an example of the gay scene in India,” says Mari Macarehnas, co-founder of WHAQ (We are here and Queer), a queer women support group.
The festival will also screen films such as Shamin Shareif’s The World Unseen, and Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement.
“Powerful, sexy and tender,” Edie & Thea, directed by Susan Muska and Greta Olafsdottir, is about a feisty and delightful lesbian couple, who gets married after 42 years. “It is a very touching film, and it made some of the preview committee members cry,” says Chandran. He is upbeat about this year’s selection of movies. “They run with the stereotypes, but there is no apologetic tone.” He feels that the films are all artistic and exceptionally well done.
The festival will close with a movie set in the backdrop of apartheid-ridden South Africa, The World Unseen, on Sunday.
(For details: http://blrqueerfilmfest.com)
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