Auroville-based designer wins KASHISH 2025 poster contest as South Asia’s biggest LGBTQIA+ film festival prepares for a vibrant celebration, scheduled to be held June 4-8, 2025 in Mumbai. The #Newsdesk reports…

Auroville-based designer Saman Me Kala has won the KASHISH 2025 International Poster Design Contest, setting the tone for South Asia’s biggest LGBTQIA+ film festival. KASHISH Pride Film Festival 2025, scheduled from June 4-8 in Mumbai, promises a vibrant celebration of queer cinema, creativity, and culture. As the festival expands to new venues and embraces the theme "Love = Peace," audiences can look forward to powerful storytelling, inspiring artistry, and an inclusive space for LGBTQIA+ voices from India and around the world.

The winner for the KASHISH 2025 International Poster Design Contest for the 16th KASHISH Pride Film Festival was revealed today – Saman Me Kala, queer visual and performance artist based in Auroville, Pondicherry, was picked the winner.

The winning entry was picked from around 50 submissions to the contest received from not only several parts of India like Mumbai, New Delhi, Indore, Coimbatore, Kochi, Bolangir, Ahmedabad, Pune, Dehradun, Jorhat, Bangalore, and Auroville; but also from other countries such as UAE and Estonia!

A Full-Circle Moment for the Winner
The winner Saman Me Kala, who originally hails from Karimnagar, Telangana, said, “Winning the KASHISH Poster Design Contest feels incredibly special—like a full-circle moment. I remember attending the festival in 2016 when I was in my college, quietly sitting in the audience while figuring out my own identity. To now contribute as an artist feels like a big step in my journey of growth, self-acceptance, and pride. The theme Love = Peace deeply resonated with me. The emotion came from an inside voice - from the consciousness — where identity, duality, and the freedom to simply be all met. The butterfly translates as a symbol of transformation, softness, and strength. I’m grateful and excited to share this with the world!”

The final design was selected by Dalip Daswani, a Pune-based ceramic artist, design consultant, and educator, who said, “This poster instantly stood completely apart from the rest. The colours are soothing and sensual; the central composition with the slight asymmetry (the two heads in the back not being identical) works well. The figure in the foreground is reminiscent of the Buddha, a symbol of Love & Peace – of understanding, harmony, and serenity. The total artwork reminds me of the movie Avatar – which spoke of a love that is not just terrestrial but cosmic - inter-galactic love between species that are totally different.”Runners-up for the contest are Nandini Porwal, Filmmaker from Indore, India, and Kristian Kirsfeldt, Designer from Tallinn, Estonia. This design will adorn all the creatives of the festival, from T-shirts to Coffee Mugs and Badges to Banners and Hoardings.

Festival Theme: Love = Peace
The theme for #KASHISH2025 is Love = Peace, underlining the transformative power of Love to usher in Peace. What we need now more than ever is Peace - peace among warring nations, among divided communities, and within individuals, whether mental or emotional. And all this can be brought through Love - love for oneself, for each other, love within families and societies, and love that embraces every identity.

KASHISH 2025 will see a shift in the festival’s outlook and even location with the opening ceremony to be held at St. Andrews Auditorium, Bandra, and four days of screenings at Cinepolis, Andheri West, both in the western suburbs. However, four days of screenings will happen simultaneously at Alliance Francaise de Bombay at Marine Lines as in the past years.

Adapting to New Challenges
Speaking about the shift, Sridhar Rangayan, founder festival director, said, “With the rising costs and doors of funding agencies shutting down across the globe, numerous film festivals have been stopped dead in their tracks. KASHISH has always believed in innovation and has stayed in tune with the times. We were the first film festival in India to go completely online with a new slate of films when pandemic hit the world. Now with the new challenges, the move to the suburbs will hopefully infuse youth and vibrancy to the festival – both in the audience demographics and the festival team composition. We are also moving closer to where the film industry is, and we hope to have greater participation of industry professionals.”
The film program and other details will be unveiled soon. More information about the festival can be found at http://mumbaiqueerfest.com.

About KASHISH Pride Film Festival
KASHISH Pride Film Festival is South Asia's biggest LGBTQ+ film festival, and the first LGBTQ+ film festival in India to be held in a mainstream theatre. It is the first Indian LGBTQ+ festival to be held with approval by the Information & Broadcasting Ministry, Government of India. Founded in 2010, KASHISH has grown to become an important medium for exhibition, production, and distribution of LGBTQ+ films and the most needed platform to nurture the Indian LGBTQ+ movement. KASHISH has been voted as one of the Top 5 LGBTQ+ Film Festivals in the World, and also one of the Top 5 Film Festivals in India.