the 12th edition of kashish mumbai international queer film festival is online this year and will screen 221 lgbtqia films from 53 countries a 12member jury comprising national award winning filmmakers curators and cinematographer will judge nine award categories bafta award nominated writerdirector ritesh batra lunchbox photograph our souls at night wellknown indian film director gauri shinde english vinglish dear zindagi and national award winning cinematographer satya rai nagpaul aligarh alms of the blind horse the fourth direction along with eminent festival directors cary rajinder sawhney london indian film festival and selvaggia velo river to river florence indian film festival headline the kashish 2021 narrative jury panel filmmaker gauri says in times like these where else can human expression and connection be felt more than through film or art and kashish is special because it just is the purpose the philosophy itself is what makes it so i am finally able to be part of this jury and a part of a great team and am grateful for it writerdirector ritesh believes that in these challenging times if all we can do is keep the flame of art and culture burning thats what we must do because art will reflect back on these times and art bears witness i am very excited to be part of this amazing jury for this amazing festival he says talking about the jury sridhar rangayan festival director says we are super pleased to have such eminent and accomplished personalities on the jury panels who bring in their very own rich and diverse experiences in the jurying process our team is mighty thankful to them for their amazing support and cooperation in the jurying process during these challenging times may the best film win but let us celebrate the uniqueness of each and every film that is in competition but also all the films screening at the 12 day film festival each one of them makes us reflect on our own privileges and shortcomings and offer a mega blockbuster of entertainmentcinematographer satya adds our lives are precarious once again this time with a severity closer home like never before precarity is not new to a queer person it is our constant companion demonstrated daily by my trans sisters mothers trans brothers and lovers i remind myself of this as various institutions forsake us today and i look to the civil society space which emerges once again to rejuvenate faith in our collective humanity one such space is the kashish film festival that has unrelentingly placed the queer life in the public domain it is an honour to be a part of its 12th edition and as one of the narrative jury members to have the opportunity to affirm endorse and claim stake to our collective queer lives said the kashish 2021 documentary jury panel boasts of two national award winners two time national award winning editor bina paul mitr my friend and sthithi and three time national award winning filmmaker nandan saxena cotton for