The very first Out & Loud – Pune International Queer Film Festival (PIQFF) was organised by MIST on 7th-9th April, 2017. Spanning over three days, the festival received overwhelming support from the community as Wherelse Café and Bar in Viman Nagar and Dreamcatcher Art School in Koregaon Park saw a full house for the 47 movies that were screened.
Umang & Pulkit performing a Gay Duet Dance
Out of the 47 movies that were screened, some of the movie entries from India were “The Other Love Story”, directed by Roopa Rao, “Ladies and Gentlewomen”, directed by Malini Jeevarathnam, and Odum Raja Adum Rani, by Vijuvarma. Some of the international entries were Out! Loud! By Betty Bernherd, Lily, by Graham Cantwell, and Paternity Leave by Matt RiddleHoover.
There was a special screening of “The Other Love Story”, followed by a special Q&A session with the director and the chief guest for the festival, Roopa Rao.
Roopa Rao during the Q & A session
From Left: Shraddha Gita (Director – Dreamcatcher Art School), Malini Jeevarathnam (Director – Ladies & Gentle Women)
Festival Director Shyam Konnur with Shraddha Gite and her team
The festival did not have a special jury, but the awards were decided based on voting, by community members and friends who visited the festival. Here are the winners of Out & Loud – PIQFF, 2017:
Best Short Film – Dusk directed by Jake Graf
Best Documentary Film – Ladies and Gentle Woman directed by Malini Jeevarathnam
Best Feature Film – Sannata: An Absence of Sound directed by Zameer Kamble
Best of QAAF – Bhram:Delusion directed by Manoj Sunanda
World Premiere at Out and Loud PIQFF 2017 – Raatoke Humsafar directed by Saggherr Loadhii
Best Humour Movie – Knock Knock directed by Moses Tulasi and Ravi Mallipeddi
Best Innovative Movie – PYOTR495 directed by Blake Mawson
Best Actor (Male) – Balaji Srinivas (23C) directed by Yaggna Valkiyan
Best Actor (Female) – Clara Harte (Lily) directed by Graham Cantwell
The festival hosted a panel discussion as well, where panelists Shraddha Gite (Director, Dreamcatcher Art School, Koregaon Park), Manoj Sunandha (Film-maker), Saggherr Loadhii and Zameer Kamble (Film-maker and Theatre Artist) and Malini Jeevarathnam (Film Maker), engaged the audience with conversation around “How queer themed Indian cinemas can make a difference?”
Monologue by Hina and team
Movie Poster – Odum Raja Aadum Rani (Director: Viju Varma)
Shreyansh Sharma
Community members put up enthralling performances at the festival. Umang and Pulkit performed a beautifully harmonized dance on the opening night. This was followed by a captivating monologue delivered by Project Endeavour. The festival was brought to a close on the third night with performances by Shreyansh Sharma and Sumit Pawar, lifting the spirits of the audience, vowing to come back next year for more. The festival was a safe space where queer folks with their diverse stories of pride came together to experience representation of little bits of their real stories on reel.
The 1st Out & Loud – Pune International Queer Film Festival was made possible because of the tireless efforts of the volunteers and the organizing committee of Mist; associate partnership of SCRUFF; venue partnership of Wherelse Café and Bar, Viman Nagar, and Dreamcatcher Art School, Koregaon Park.
Organizing team of Out & Loud – PIQFF 2017
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