Venue: Goethe-Institut Chennai | Max Mueller Bhavan, 4 Rutland Gate 5th Street,  Nungambakkam, Chennai

Dates:
July 29: Friday 6 pm – 9 pm (3 hours)
July 30: Saturday 3 pm – 9 pm (6 hours)
July 31: Sunday 3 pm – 9 pm (6 hours)

Information: 98415-57983, chennaiintlqueerfilmfest@gmail.com and website ciqff.org

A collection of Chennai-based collectives and NGOs working on gender and sexuality, in partnership with Goethe-Institut Chennai | Max Mueller Bhavan brings you Reel Desires: Chennai International Queer Film Festival, July 29-31, 2016. Reel Desires is a three-day series of feature films, shorts, and documentaries showcasing sexuality and gender diversity issues.  The 26 films selected for this year span eight countries, and include shorts, documentaries and feature length films. They collectively chronicle the global struggle for rights of lesbian, gay, bi and transgender people, explore individual and collective journeys that cross physical and metaphorical borders, and reflect the universality and specificity of LGBT lives across space and time.

The principal organisers are Orinam, a local collective that has been working since 2003 to end discrimination and provide social and support spaces for the LGBTQI communities in Chennai, Goethe-Institut and several community groups and NGOs including Nirangal, RIOV, SAATHII, and East-West Center for Counseling.

Highlights include Hansal Mehta’s acclaimed feature Aligarh, a depiction of the life of Prof Siras, who succumbed to homophobia at the university where he was teaching. Shorts from Germany’s Berlinale andDresden film festivals will also be screened at Reel Desires.

This year, Reel Desires, is pleased to partner with British Council in presenting a selection of shorts from fiveFilms4freedom, the world’s first global, digital LGBT film festival. fiveFilms4freedom is selection of  audience favourites from BFI Flare, London’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Film Festival, and are being screened in select cities, including Chennai.

Besides films, Reel Desires will also feature dance performances by members of the community Ponni, Anjali and Taejha Singh, and a panel discussion on Ending Gender-and Sexuality-based Violence.

Reel Desires is a reminder of our common humanity that transcends boundaries of sexuality, gender identity and culture.

Media are invited to kindly preview and/or review the event. For more information, including content for curtain-raisers, hi-res images, and interviews with filmmakers, contact chennaiintlqueerfilmfest@gmail.com, text 98415-57983 and visit website ciqff.org

Man for a Day

a film* exploring female masculinities

by Katarina Peters (96 min)
Monday, 17.3.2014 at 7.00 p.m.

Diane Torr and Katarina Peters will be in attendance

For more information, email orinamwebber@gmail.com

* What makes a man a man? What makes a woman a woman? How is gender identity formatted? What is natural and what is learned or indoctrinated? Is gender simply a mere set of gestures that men/women can acquire? Is it possible to discover whether through a self-conscious transformation from one gender to another one can create a sense of self-liberation and furthermore expand one’s boundaries with regard to male/female behavior?

The worldwide stage appearances and workshops of the gender activist and performance artist Diane Torr, are legendary. Her investigation is in a theoretical and hands-on approach to experimentation with gender identity. Katarina Peters casted and observed a Berlin Workshop taught by Diane Torr, in which a group of open-minded women acquainted themselves with the secrets of manliness. We meet women of various backgrounds: a 22 year old East German beauty queen; a political researcher from Munich; an Angolan single mother; and an Israeli lesbian, among others.

Trailer here:

Chennai has been organizing LGBT film screenings since 2004, including film festivals in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2012. Local groups have also organized film screenings during Pride month and at other times of the year.

This year, we are pleased to bring you Reel Desires: Chennai International Queer Film Festival 2013, a collaborative effort between Orinam and Goethe Institut/ Max Mueller Bhavan, Chennai, with the support of other local collectives.

The festival will be held on three evenings from July 11-13, 2013, and will showcase Indian and international feature films, shorts and documentaries. There will also be a panel discussion.

We invite entries of feature-length films, shorts and documentaries for screening at the event. Entries will be reviewed by a panel, and selections notified by 15 May 2013.

If you are interested in having your work considered for this festival, please email orinamwebber@gmail.com or use the form below

Reel Desires: CIQFF 2013 Call for Submissions

Visit http://chennaiintlqueerfilmfest.blogspot.in/ for updates.

* Orinam is a Chennai-based collective that has been working for the past ten years with LGBT communities through local social and support events, online and offline resources, advocacy and the arts. For more information see www.orinam.net, follow us on twitter @chennaipride, visit us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/groups/323829627740270/ or contact us at 9841557983 or using our contact form

To submit an entry for consideration, please use the form below: