#ciqff2024

Brochure is available at https://tinyurl.com/CIQFF-2024

TWELFTH EDITION OF REEL DESIRES: CHENNAI INTERNATIONAL QUEER FILM FESTIVAL, SHOWCASES DIVERSE GENDER AND SEXUALITIES  AUGUST 16-18, 2024

MEDIA RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information, contact 98415-57983, or email [email protected] or visit www.ciqff.org.

The 12th annual edition of Reel Desires: Chennai International Queer Film Festival will be held at the Goethe-Institut, Chennai,  from August 16-18, 2024. Reel Desires features films, shorts and documentaries showcasing sexuality and gender diversity issues.  This year’s line-up consists of 20 films from nine countries, selected via a community-led review process. The principal organisers of CIQFF 2024 are Orinam and Goethe-Institut Chennai, working in collaboration with Nirangal Charitable Trust  and SAATHII.

Commencing Friday Aug 16, 2024, the film festival opens with Love and Let Love, an evocative short by Shailaja Padindala  (2024) that examines unconventional love in couples of two generations.  Other highlights of Friday include  Prayers for  Sweet Waters by Elijah Ndoumbe (2021) a look into the vivid realities of three transgender women living in Cape Town, South Africa, during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Ili-Ili (Little One)  by Clister Santos (2024) is a charming animation in which a pregnant woman seeks parenting advice from her two gay dads. It was part of the 2024 Five Films for Freedom selection of BFI FLARE, London International LGBTQIA+ film festival.  Friday’s feature film My Father’s Clothes (Anima: Die Kleider meines Vaters, by Uli Decker(2022), set in Bavaria, is a story about family secrets, gender issues and the turmoil of love - told as a roller coaster ride through animated and documentary imagery. Among the films on Saturday, August 17,  the internationally acclaimed  Jodi (If)  Bengal short  by Tathagata Ghosh (2024) explores the  tribulations of an arranged marriage that tears a lesbian couple apart,  suggesting that with a mother’s love, perhaps another future is possible.  Samlingi a documentary debut by Mohan Singh Aulakh (2024) explores queer lives in rural and urban lives in Punjab.   Hai Con Chuột (Two Little Mice) by Nguyen Anh Thach  (2024) depicts the tender affection between a gay man and his crush, on the eve of the latter’s wedding to his girlfriend.  Make-up Majhi Dhaal Ga (Make-Up Is My Shield) by Kunal Vijayakar (2024) is a short music video in the Laavni style of song and dance from Maharashtra. It follows the affectionate banter between a cis heterosexual man and his trans sister as the latter recounts her process of embracing her transness and decision to perform an exaggerated femininity. As part of CIQFF2024’s collaboration with the British Council, we bring you three shorts from the British Council Touring Programme series ‘More Films for Freedom’.  On Saturday, the UK/Nigerian film Egungun (Masquerade) by Olive Nwosu ( 2021) explores a woman’s return to her hometown in Lagos, and her new understanding of the people and experiences that shaped her. 

Saturday’s film screenings will be followed by a panel discussion Surviving Queerphobia: Online and Offline. Panelists, who include members of Chennai’s LGBTQIA+ communities and allies,  discuss the upsurge in homophobia and transphobia in recent months leading up to Pride month,  influenced by the “gender critical” movements and bathroom panic of the global north. Following the panel discussion will be a hip-hop party on the roof of Goethe-Institut, with spot registration and entry limited to 100 persons.  It will be DJ’ed by K. Phani Kumar and team.

The program on Sunday, August 18,  commences at 3 pm with Naan oru Pen (I am a woman) a 17 minute solo theatrical performance by Sowmiya in Tamil, directed by A. Mangai.  The performance draws on  poet-memoirist Maya Angelou’s Phenomenal Woman and Still I Rise, to present an embodied narration of un-making the body, lived experience and resilience of queerness, especially of a trans life in India.

Highlights among the shorts on Sunday include Ragasiya, a Tamil short on love and friendship by Chandrasekar Srinivasan (2024) featuring Chennai’s own Prahasini Arumugam as the protagonist. Love Positive by Tushar Tyagi (2024) speaks of love among two gay men, one of whom is living with HIV.  Melvilasam (Address) by  Hariprasad KN (2024) is a heartwarming documentary of Parvathi T.S and her arduous journey of becoming the first openly trans postwoman in India, and successfully changing name and gender markers in her government identity documents. They/Them by Phelian (2023) describes the self-realisation of a 49-year-old art professor of their non binary identity.

The film festival closes with  the Gujarati feature film Katlaa Curry by Rohit Prajapati  (2024). Set in a sleepy fishing village along the banks of the river Narmada,  a local fisherman, Raaymal, pulls a young man, Ratan, adrift in his fishing net, setting off a journey of profound connection and self-discovery.

As LGBTQIA+ collectives in India advocate for inclusive institutions and reduced discrimination,, we also work to engender change in hearts and minds, a task substantially more challenging than legal reform. One way we do this is by participating in and producing cultures that reflect both the universality and specificity of our experiences.

DAY 1: Friday, August 16, 2024, starts 6 pm

1.1  Love and Let Love | Shailaja Padindala | India | No Dialogue | 2024 | 8 mins 

1.2  Prayers for Sweet Waters | Elijah Ndoumbe | UK, South Africa | English, French and Kirundi | 2021 | 16 mins *

1.3  Ili-Ili (Little One) | Clister Santos | Philippines | Filipino | 2024 | 9 mins 

1.4  Mehroon | Abu Sohel Khondekar | India | Bengali | 2024 | 10 mins 

1.5  Anima: Die Kleider meines Vaters (Anima: My Father’s Clothes) | Uli Decker | Germany | German | 2022 | 95 mins 

DAY 2: Saturday, August 17, 2024, starts 3 pm

2.1  Jodi (If) | Tathagata Ghosh | India | Bengali | 2023 | 26 mins 

2.2 Summer Night's Fantasy | Guby Moon | Spain | Spanish | 2022 | 6 mins 

2.3 Samlingi (Same-Gender) | Mohan Singh Aulakh | India | Punjabi | 2024 | 37 mins 

2.4  Hai Con Chuột (Two Little Mice) | Nguyen Anh Thach | Vietnam | Vietnamese | 2024 | 16 mins 

2.5 Egungun (Masquerade) | Olive Nwosu | UK, Nigeria | English, Yoruba | 2021 | 15 mins *

2.6 Make-up Majhi Dhaal Ga (Make-Up Is My Shield) | Kunal Vijayakar | India | Marathi | 2024 | 6 mins 

Panel Discussion: Surviving Queerphobia: Online and Offline (90 mins)

DAY 3: Sunday, August 18, 2024: starts 3 pm

Naan oru Pen (I am a woman) a 17 minute solo theatrical performance by Sowmiya in Tamil, directed by A. Mangai (17 mins)

3.1 IYKYK (If You Know You Know) | Bonita Rajpurohit | India | English, Hindi and Gujarati | 2024 | 18 mins 

3.2 Nowhere  | Christopher Manning | UK | Arabic, English and Hebrew | 2020 | 22 mins *

3.3 Ragasiya | Chandrasekar Srinivasan | India | Tamil  | 2024 | 28 mins 

3.4 Love Positive | Tushar Tyagi | India | Hindi, English | 2023 | 17 mins 

3.5 Sifar | Edythe | India | English | 2024 | 20 mins 

3.6 Melvilasam (Address) | Hariprasad K N | India | Malayalam | 2024 | 15 mins 

 3.7 They/Them | Phelian | India | Language | 2023 | 17 mins 

3.8  Muscat | Léa-Marie Montreuil | Canada | French, English and Darija | 2023 | 16 mins 

3.9 Katlaa Curry | Rohit Prajapati | India | Gujarati | 2024 | 111 mins 

Reel Desires: Chennai International Queer Film Festival 2024 will be held in August 2024. We invite  submissions of Indian and international feature films, shorts and documentaries that address the themes of sexuality, gender diversity and intersex variations, and explore how these intersect with class, caste, religion, age, disability, location and other markers of identity.

We are an entirely community-driven and supported event, and do not seek corporate sponsorships for the festival. This also means we may not be able to afford to pay screening fees. We do not charge submission/entry fees either.

Submit your film(s) below. Email [email protected] for more information.