Last Letter – an extraordinary short on homosexuality among senior citizens, LIFF 2019

The Last Letter, a 15 minutes short film by Vishal Jejurkar is an unusual story of a 70-year-old gay man Mohan, who lives in Mumbai, and is in the closet. Vishal wrote this story when he was in the final year of his medical studies. "I was doing some random research on various topics at that time with nothing specific...

An exclusive tete-a-tete with Rima Das about ‘Bulbul can Sing’

Assamese director Rima Das returned to the London Indian Film Festival (LIFF) this year with a powerful story of three teenagers and their journey of self-exploration, in her movie Bulbul Can Sing. Set in the rural northeast state of Assam, the village Rima grew up in, this picturesque and honest film has already swept up prestigious awards at Berlin,...

U Ushacha: back stories from the directors desk for LIFF

The London Indian Film Festival (LIFF) this year has a 21-minute short film in Marathi, the only one to be covered in two sections of the festival, including the famed Satyajit Ray Short Film Competition. What's interesting is that the Director, Rohan Kandwale has had no formal education in filmmaking. The film, U Ushacha, will be also be shown in the...

Tamil and Kannada films to rock LIFF’s 10th Edition with a bunch of emerging queer cinemas

The London Indian Film Festival (LIFF) Europe's largest Asian Film Festival is celebrating its 10th Edition this year. The screenings have been made special by India’s ‘decriminalisation’ of its LGBTQ+ and transgender population earlier this year and the festival celebrates by selecting a dynamic range of recent LGBTQ+ films including two Tamil and a Kannada film, surprising the film...

Assamese movie ‘Bulbul can sing’ set to be screened in London

Bulbul Can Sing, a film by critically acclaimed Assamese director Rima Das is a powerful and thought-provoking film about three teenage buddies growing up in a small village in rural Assam, in the remote northeast state of India. Set in the village that Rima Das grew up in, the film is about three teenagers and their journey of self-exploration. Starring...

LIFF 2019 – Roobha

Roobha is a touching movie about one young Tamil woman's journey to understanding and embracing her sexuality, in the face of opposition from her family. That may sound like a million other films that deal with trans-gender characters but what makes this one special is that it's a love story told from two sides. On one side we have the...