'Spirit of Ecstasy,' 'Mutt' to headline Kashish LGBTQ+ Film Festival
The 2024 edition of the Kashish LGBTQ+ film festival in Mumbai will feature Héléna Klotz's Spirit of Ecstasy and Vuk Lungulov-Klotz's Mutt as its main attractions. Spirit of Ecstasy, a narrative about a stock-market trader dealing with their gender identity, first premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival. On the other hand, Mutt delves into the emotional journey of a trans man in New York City over one day. The festival will run from May 15-19.
Acclaim and recognition for 'Spirit of Ecstasy' and 'Mutt'
Spirit of Ecstasy lead, Pomme, was nominated for the Most Promising Actor award at France's Lumiere awards. Mutt had its premiere at Sundance 2023, where it bagged the US Dramatic Special Jury Award for actor Lio Mehiel. The film also received a special mention from the jury at Berlin's Generation 14plus strand.
'Kaathal' will lead Indian features
The festival lineup also includes the Malayalam hit Kaathal the Core by Jeo Baby and Housekeeping for Beginners by Goran Stolevski. The Indian documentary centerpiece is Hues & Blues by Vinayakram C, while Vuslat Karan and Burcu Melekoglu's Blue ID is the international documentary centerpiece. Special features include Deepa Mehta and Sirat Taneja's I am Sirat and Sridhar Rangayan's Dreams Such As Ours.
Festival founder shared excitement for 2024 edition
The festival's founder and director, Rangayan, expressed his enthusiasm about the upcoming event. He stated that the opening and closing films reflect the rapid evolution of consciousness around identities. Rangayan emphasized the importance of recognizing diversity and intersectionalities of gender and sexuality. He also highlighted this year's theme "Unfurl Your Pride," inviting everyone to attend the 15th edition of Kashish as their true selves.
