KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival will celebrate its 10th edition this year and for the seventh year in a row will raise funds through crowdfunding to organise South Asia's biggest LGBTQ film festival. KASHISH 2019 will be held between June 12-June 16, 2019 at two of Mumbai's iconic theatres - Liberty Carnival Cinemas and Metro Inox. 

KASHISH was the first LGBTQ event in India to successfully raise money through crowdfunding in 2012. This year the festival hopes to raise Rs 5 lakhs to meet part of the expenses of organising India's first mainstream LGBTQ film festival. The campaign to raise funds is being held on India's largest crowdfunding platform Wishberry.

"If the festival has managed to survive and stand up to celebrate its 10th year, it's because of the support we receive from companies and individuals. They believe in the power of the festival in creating social change. Every year the crowdfunding campaign is a star attraction and engages with people all over the world with the simple message, 'Together we can make it happen.' We hope this year with Section 377 gone we can celebrate in a big way and we entreat everyone to contribute generously," said founder & festival director Sridhar Rangayan.

KASHISH 2019 crowdfunding campaign will use part of the funds raised for a scholarship for selected filmmakers from across India to come to the film festival and interact with the audience, film making fraternity and showcase their films. This year, besides priority seating and exclusive invites to the Opening night red carpet party, crowd funders will also be rewarded with Virtual Reality film experiences at the festival. 

Contribute to KASHISH 2019 Crowdfunding:  

https://www.wishberry.in/campaign/kashish-2019-over-the-rainbow 

KASHISH 2019 Theme

KASHISH 2019 festival theme ‘Over The Rainbow’ not only commemorates the reading down of Sec 377 and decriminalization of same-sex relationships in India, but also defines the challenges in store for the LGBTQ community’s journey towards empowerment and social acceptance. Bringing together films from all over the world as well as panel discussions and performances, the festival will showcase the shared struggles and victories, and offer a window to existing and future possibilities. Let’s together journey over the rainbow to discover the land of equality & dignity.

About KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival

Voted as one of the Top 5 LGBT Film Festival in the World, KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival is South Asia's biggest queer film festival and the only LGBT film festival in India to be held in a mainstream theatre. Founded in 2010, KASHISH is held over 5 days at three venues. It is the first Indian LGBT festival to be held with approval by the Information & Broadcasting Ministry, Government of India. KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival is presented by KASHISH Arts Foundation and organized by Solaris Pictures. Besides the annual film festival its other initiatives are KASHISH Forward - India’s first travelling campus LGBTQ film festival, KASHISH Global – that facilitates screening of Indian LGBTQ films across the world, Best of KASHISH film screenings and KASHISH Chalchitra Utsav – a festival of LGBTQ films in regional languages.