National award winning internationally acclaimed actor Anupam Kher and his acting school `Actor Prepares’ will sponsor the top prizes at this year’s KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival for the second year. Anupam Kher announced that the cash prizes of Rs 30,000 and Rs 20,000 will go to the Best Narrative Feature Film and Best Indian Short Film respectively at South Asia’s biggest lesbian, gay and transgender film festival. Actor Prepares will also hand out the Best Actor In A leading Role award. The awards will be announced at the closing ceremony of fifth edition of KASHISH on Sunday evening. The cash awards were instituted by Anupam Kher in 2013.
“It is really important to support a festival like KASHISH which offers a platform for Indian and international films that otherwise can never be seen in India. Our acting school has always recognised excellence in cinema and we are happy to support the top awards at KASHISH. It is also our commitment to raise awareness about social issues”, said Mr.Anupam Kher.
“We are honoured that Anupam Kher has decided to continue to support KASHISH for the second year in a row. Filmmakers who make films on LGBT themes find it difficult to reach out to a wider audience or find mainsstream spaces to showcase their works. KASHISH serves as a platform for filmmakers who make films on LGBT themes. The cash awards will serve as an inspiration to the filmmakers and a recognition of their efforts to make cutting edge films on LGBT themes,’ said Sridhar Rangayan, Festival Director.
The winners will be decided by a jury comprising actor and former Member of Parliament Nitish Bharadwaj, noted filmmaker Onir, costume designer Pia Benegal and actor Avantika Akerkar.
KASHISH is being held between May 21 – May 25, 2014, at the iconic Liberty Cinema, New Marine Lines and Alliance Française de Bombay (AFB). The festival will 154 films from 31 countries – of these 11 are World, 17 International and 39 Asian premieres. To register and contribute, click here.