The 16th edition of Mumbai’s Kashish Pride Film Festival wrapped its five-day run with an awards ceremony that saw Icelandic trans drama “Odd Fish” and Brazilian-Dutch co-production “Baby” emerge as the night’s biggest winners.
“Odd Fish,” directed by Snaevar Solvason, won the best narrative feature award, while its lead actor Arna Magnea Danks scored best performance in a lead role. The film also earned a special jury mention for screenplay.
“These are the first ever award wins for the film, and the film has travelled to many film festivals,” said writer-director Solvason. “I love India and this award has brought sunshine into this rather cold countryside.”
Danks, a trans woman, mother of three, teacher, actor, stunt director and poet, added: “It is not everyday a trans woman like me gets an award. I thank my director and co-star and every single person who took part in creating this artwork, unique not to just Iceland but the world itself.”
Brazilian feature “Baby” claimed the best screenplay award for writers Gabriel Domingues and Marcelo Caetano, with lead actor Joao Pedro Marian receiving a special mention. The actor said from Brazil: “My heart is beating here in Brazil, completely filled with joy, to see that my work touches people in different parts of the world in other continents.”
Director Marcelo Caetano, who previously visited India in 2020, said he hopes “to return to do some project in the beautiful country.”
Serbian documentary “Warm Film” by Dragan Jovićević won best documentary feature. “I feel privileged because this is the first award for the film outside Europe and super happy that it comes from India because I know how much Indians love cinema,” said Jovićević.
Indian films also made their mark, with “The Jasmine That Blooms in Autumn” by Chandradeep Das winning best Indian narrative short and “B and S” by Lipika Singh Darai taking best documentary short. Saikat Mondal earned the Riyad Wadia award for best emerging Indian filmmaker for “Jalsa.”
The Ismat Chughtai award for best woman filmmaker of Indian origin was shared between Shoi for “Project Priyo” and Joey Kaushik for “The Witch of Vihar Lake.”
International winners included Chongyan Liu’s “After All” (Aditya Nanda Award for best film on queer mental health), Christine Seow’s “Two Travelling Aunties” (best student short), and Borja Escribano’s “Violets” (best international narrative short).
The Kashish QDrishti Film Grant worth INR2,50,000 ($2,915) went to “Make-Up Room” written by Shubam Negi, with runners-up “Us Girls” by Rayyan Monkey and “Operation: Gulzar” by Varsha Panikar each receiving INR75,000 ($875).
The ceremony featured performances by LGBTQ+ dance group The House of Sway and music band Bombay Noor, along with the trailer launch for upcoming Prime Video documentary series “In-Transit,” produced by Tiger Baby Productions.
The festival’s jury included prominent industry figures such as Abhishek Chaubey, Guneet Monga Kapoor, Vikramaditya Motwane, Tanuja Chandra, and Shruti Seth across various categories.
Festival director Sridhar Rangayan said: “Despite the huge challenges we faced due to financial constraints, we are happy that the five-day pride film festival concluded with great élan and fanfare with many houseful shows. I’m especially thrilled by Icelandic trans actor Arna Magnea Danks winning the best actor award, and non-binary Indian filmmaker Shoi winning the Ismat Chughtai award.”
variety.com
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