Experimental films at the fore

The Bangalore Queer Film Festival is back with a bang, this time, expecting an even larger footfall then they’ve received in their previous editions.

The festival, which is  being held at the Alliance Francaise de Bangalore, features a huge collection of films — both long and short — which touch upon the topic of homosexuality. It includes three-days of films, as well as some performances and even a photo exhibition.

Poorva Rajaram, one of the organisers of the festival, says that a conscious effort is made to keep the occasion different and exciting each year — and this edition is no different. “The nice thing is that this time around, we have five films which have been made by Bangalore film-makers, and at least tangentially touch upon this City.

We’ve made a real effort to get these, and we’re quite excited about it,” she explains.

The festival has seen large numbers of interested audience in the past, and Poorva believes that this time around, they’ll get an even larger crowd. “The numbers just keep increasing. It’s going to be quite big this year, so hopefully more people will come. In fact, this time we have our first mainstream Indian film — the Tamil movie ‘Kanchana’,” she says.

‘Kanchana’ is a film spiced with horror, thrills and has been pegged as a movie that portrays transgenders in a positive, non-comic fashion. The festival also has a truly international touch, with exceptional films coming in from all over the world. Out of the 59 films that are being screened over the three days, there are representatives from 16 countries. “We have two from Indonesia, and a whole package of Korean films,” says Poorva.

And this isn’t all. There’s also a lot of variety in terms of the kinds of films being screened. From mainstream thrillers to documentaries to short clips — barely 15 minutes long, in some cases— the festival seems to have it all. “I think this is what makes it really interesting. There’s a lot of variety, and the short films are very experimental,” explains Poorva.

The festival will be held till February 26 at the Alliance Francaise de Bangalore. With movies like ‘Shabbat Dinner’, ‘Jamie and Jessie are not together’ and ‘Nobody Passes Perfectly’ in the line-up, it’s an occasion worth catching.