While the community waits for the Supreme Court’s hearing in regard to homosexuality, Kashish — India’s international queer film festival — has launched a contest enabling people to coin their own expression; and this time with the help of a brush.
This fest has called artists and designers across the world to design its official poster. Besides winning an award for designing the poster, the design will also be featured on hoardings, in print and online advertisements, catalogue, cinema slides and delegate’s cards.
“The theme for this year is ‘For Everyone’, which means this year’s festival has something to offer to each and every person. Not just the LGBT community, but also their families, colleagues and friends, reflects this spirit,” says film-maker and festival director, Sridhar Rangayan. He also says that such a concept has been included for the first time in the festival and is intended to cater to artists (apart from filmmakers) who can express themselves creatively through this medium.
Director Onir, who has been associated with this festival for the past three years, lauds the concept of contest. “Poster design in Bollywood is not a new phenomenon. It is a very effective medium to reach out to the masses. I have used it for my films and given the connectivity on social media, it’s amazing to see people respond,” he says. He adds that such a festival has enabled people to broaden their mindset and has highlighted the fact that this is a not only a community of people, but also a community of artistes. “It’s very difficult to otherwise showcase movies in these genres in local theatres. But when conducted on such a large platform, it’s bound to make waves,” he adds.
Though the idea is compelling, many feel that remuneration of any sort, for the winners will go a long way in helping them. “Since many do freelancing job (especially in India) sometimes because of their orientation, money in the form of an award will be helpful,” says business manager of ghar4u Jayati Mathur. Last year, the festival saw the likes of Pooja Bhatt, Juhi Chawla, Rahul Bose and Sanjay Suri participating. The third edition will be held from May 23 to 27 in Mumbai. The deadline to submit your posters is March 15.