South Asian interest films at one of the world’s largest and most highly regarded LGBTQIA+ platforms…
BRITAIN’S leading festival showcasing the best in LGBTQIA+ cinema starts tomorrow (March 19-30) with several films of interest to the asianculturevulture, covering themes that seem predictable on the surface – but are radical, thoughtful and/or mind-blowing.
There is also an explicit recognition of South Asian contribution to the LGBTQ+ debates with the authors of a seminal work coming together at Flare shortly after the release of a groundbreaking work published just last month.
Inspired by the publication of the same name, Desi Queers (Hurst Publishers) is taking place this Saturday (March 22) as two academics and the iconic, now legendary, DJ Ritu MBE, gather to discuss their work in the just released, ‘Desi Queers – LGBTQ+ South Asians and cultural belonging in Britain’.
Author Churnjeet Mahn is professor of English Literature at the University of Strathclyde and looks at racism and homophobia, as well as Post Partition memory and queer displacement. Rohit K Dasgupta is associate professor of Gender and Sexuality at the London School of Economics (LSE). He examines queer cultures digital media, and cultural production in South Asia. Other known personalities will also be at the talk: Sharan Dhaliwal, founder of Middlesex Pride; Parminder Sekhon, CEO of the Naz Project which is a leading organisation, addressing sexual health inequalities; and dancer and filmmaker Shiva Raichandani.
Among the feature films screening at Flare of special interest to the asianculturevulture, are ‘We are Faheem & Karun’ by acclaimed Indian director Onir with co-written script by Fawzia Mirza (‘The Queen of My Dreams’).
A security guard, Karun, from Southern India gets posted to Gurez, a small village in Kashmir. Here, he begins a friendship with a local, Faheem.
However, the portents aren’t good as the politics of the region come into play and wreak quiet havoc on love, friendship, desire and hope. Described as “touching and sensitive”, it takes us into the realms where dreams have to be tempered by ground realities.
In the short category, Indian director Bonita Rajpurohit looks at dating men as a transgender woman in ‘iykyk (if you know you know)’. It plays in the For The Girls shorts strand, showcasing Trans-femme themes and concerns.
Two British shorts also feature – ‘Pink’ by Yassa Khan and featuring Gordon Warnecke as the Dad to a gay son he has not seen in 12 years. It is also a coming out story with an unusual backdrop: a £30K bank heist. For more on this see our story/interview with director Khan. (See Link below).
Also screening is ‘Before I do’ that features both Shobna Gulati and Ayesha Dharker and about a South Asian woman about to have a grand, traditional wedding but has doubts as a woman, who likes women. Let’s leave at that. For more on this see our story/interview with director Khan. (See Link below).
Elsewhere, the 39th edition of the festival opens with international premiere, ‘The Wedding Banquet’ by Andrew Ahn and starring Native American, Lily Gladstone (‘Killers of the Flower Moon’).
A gay man makes an agreement to go through with a marriage to a lesbian friend, so that he can stay in the US, while she can have fertility treatment and all is upended by the central character’s Korean grandmother, who plans a sumptuous wedding banquet. Among the star-studded intergenerational cast is Bowen Yang, best known for his skits on the well-known US comedy variety show, ‘Saturday Night Live’.
Closing the festival is ‘Night Stage’ with writer-directors Filipe Matzembacher and Marcio Reolon delving deep into the psyches of an actor and a politician who are secretly in an affair, enjoy public sex and feel more and more compelled towards it, as their respective careers take off.
There are a number of queer Black stories also covered in this year’s Flare.
Among them are ‘Dreams in Nightmares’ by writer-director Shatara Michelle Ford, as three black queer femmes in their mid 30s go on a road trip across the Midwest to find out what has happened to their friend who has seemingly disappeared.
Jamaican poet Staceyann Chin looks at the mother who abandoned her, while herself looking after a nine-year old daughter herself in ‘A Mother Apart’.
A web series, ‘Black Fruit’ and about two Afro-German friends who have to confront their tensions following the death of a parent is another highlight.
In the documentary strand, ‘Assembly’, artist Rashaad Newsome and professor Jonny Symons come together in a multimedia offering, that platforms vogueing and black queer culture.
‘Drip Like Coffee’ is where two New York baristas embark on a relationship that has sensuousness and beauty at the heart of it and is the striking debut of filmmaker Anaiis Cisco.
The festival is divided into three thematic programme strands: Hearts, Bodies and Minds. There are 34 world premieres with a total of 56 features, a series and 81 shorts from 41 countries.
Check out the full programme here:
*Ticket availability is limited, as much is indicated as sold out presently but new tickets are being added, so keep checking…
Click here for latest availability
*‘The Queen of My Dreams’
https://youtu.be/lbDljIC_S30
