Queering film festivals – #CIQFF2014 – from the audience

Until main stream cinema makes a movie portraying a Queer character as Queer without any fuss; I think forums like Reel Desires: Chennai international Queer film festival will continue and is needed to voice the queer community, their friends, family and allies alike.

I wish Dedh Ishqiya had done for the queer community what Tarey Zameen Par did for dyslexia but as Bharadwaj Rangan said in his inaugural speech during CIQFF 2014, it was still ambiguous in the end as to whether the protagonist and the loyal aide were lovers or just friends.

It is this very ambiguity that the queer community wishes to overcome. We are done with living in shadows and socially acceptable allegories. We struggle with the issue of social marginalization every day of our lives. And as with all issues, the first step is to give it a name and talk about it. And yes, we are here and we are Queer. We will tag anything associated with us as Queer.