Kashish Mumbai International Queer Film Festival (MIQFF) nominated Daaravtha as India's entry for the prize which had won the Best Indian Short Film prize at the 7th edition of Kashish MIQFF, South Asia's biggest LGBT film festival ans also one of the partner festivals of the Iris Prize Festival.
Marathi short film Daaravtha (The Threshold) directed by Nishant Roy Bombarde will compete for the Iris Prize - Cardiff's International gay and lesbian short film prize - to be held from October 12 to 16. Often referred to as the Gay Oscars, Iris Prize is the largest LGBT short film prize in the world, with the winner receiving £30,000 to make their next short film in the United Kingdom.
Kashish Mumbai International Queer Film Festival (MIQFF) nominated Daaravtha as India's entry for the prize which had won the Best Indian Short Film prize at the 7th edition of Kashish MIQFF, South Asia's biggest LGBT film festival and also one of the partner festivals of the Iris Prize Festival. The film will compete with 34 other shortlisted films for the prestigious Iris award.
"I'm really grateful to Kashish for providing the film with such a great platform like Iris. I think this is a brilliant initiative by Iris to get few films nominated instead of direct selection since in some countries like India, films related to LGBT issues are still in their nascent stage and might not make a cut to an otherwise very competitively curated festival," said said Nishant Roy Bombarde who added, "I'm actually going to Cardiff with an open mind. I'm going to watch a lot of films, talk to as many filmmakers as I can, meet as many industry professionals and have a lot of fun! If I could get an accolade for India while I'm there, it will be like icing on the cake!"
Kashish MIQFF festival director Sridhar Rangayan said that Daaravtha continues the trend of the growing queer film movement in India. "One of the aims of Kashish is to provide a platform for Indian LGBTQ films to be showcased around the world. The nomination of our festival's winner at Iris Prize raises huge expectations. Moreover, it is a really cool festival and offers a great experience to the filmmaker," said Rangayan, who was a jury member at Iris Prize in 2013.
Berwyn Rowlands, festival director of the Iris Prize Festival said that its partnership with Kashish was important. "The Iris Prize continues to be the world's largest LGBT short film prize supported by The Michael Bishop Foundation. The Iris Prize relies on a global network of film festivals located in 17 countries to act as our eyes and ears. This is why Kashish is an important partner for Iris, making sure we are aware of the immense LGBT film making talent in India and surrounding region. We are also delighted that Kashish is able to share the best of Iris by screening annually an Iris Prize showcase in Mumbai," said Rowland.
Voted as one of the Top five LGBT film festivals in the World, Kashish MIQFF is not only South Asia's biggest queer only mainstream film festival in India but has also emerged as a platform that facilitates screenings of Indian LGBTQ film across several international festivals across the UK, US, Australia, Czech Republic, Indonesia, China, South Korea, Sweden, Poland, Germany, Romania, Taiwan, Pakistan, Netherlands, etc. Among the forthcoming screening of Kashish Global is 'Any Other Day' by Vikrant Dhote (winner of Riyad Wadia award for Best Emerging Indian Filmmaker at Kashish 2016) on October 12 at Ile Courts Festival, Mauritius.
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