Bangalore has hosted film festivals on themes related to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT or Queer) communities since 2003. Although they were small events, since their transformation into The Bangalore Queer Film Festival (BQFF) in April 2009, held at the Alliance Francaise, the festivals made Bangalore a destination for international Queer films.

Organisers

 BQFF 2010 is organised by Good As You (GAY), SWABHAVA Trust and We’re Here and Queer (WHAQ!). GAY (www.goodasyou. in) is a support group (est. 1994) for LGBT people in Bangalore and is one of the oldest support groups in India . SWABHAVA Trust (est. 1999) is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation working with LGBT issues, including providing access to support services in Bangalore . Both GAY and Swabhava have co-hosted previous queer film festivals in Bangalore . This year, another group called We’re Here and Queer (WHAQ!), a queer women’s support group (estd. 2009) is also a co-organiser. GAY and WHAQ! regularly organise film screenings at their weekly meetings. All the groups are non-funded and operate entirely on donations.

 BQFF 2009

 The 1st edition of the Bangalore Queer Film Festival was held in Bangalore on 10 and 11 April, 2009 . The event had a tightly packed schedule screening more than 20 feature, short and documentary films alongside panel discussions on being out at the workplace and short performance pieces using drama, dance, Sufi music and poetry.

 BQFF 2010

 The 2nd edition of the Bangalore Queer Film Festival will be held in Bangalore in February 2010. Screening feature, documentary and experimental films, BQFF 2010 caters to a large Bangalore public interested in international films. Panel discussions on key issues concerning the LGBT community in Bangalore/India will also be organised as part of the schedule.

Venue: The Alliance Francaise, Vasanthnagar, Bangalore – 560 001

Dates: 27 and 28 February 2010

Sponsorships

 The BQFF 2010 will be presented by GAY, Swabhava and WHAQ! and is intended to be a co-sponsored event. Local and outside sponsorships will be solicited for different aspects of the event. The film festival itself is a non-ticketed event, but donations for the three groups will be welcomed.

 Submission criteria for selection

 Please submit your films for preview. The final schedule of films will be selected in the second week of February 2010. Please note the following suggestions for submitting films to be screened at BQFF 2010.

 Films. We accept films made by directors on themes related to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex and other queer populations. Films that challenge traditional gender and sex / sexuality notions are welcomed.

 Genres. Please submit films of any form: Features, Shorts, Documentaries, Animation or Experimental.

 Format. Currently, submissions for preview are expected on either high-quality DVD or VCD in PAL format. Please contact the organisers if you have any request for information related to format of submission. For final screening, submitters will be contacted if higher quality formats are required.

 Still Images. Please also submit 4-5 high-quality still images on an additional CD or DVD (JPEG or TIFF format).

Subtitles. The films submitted for BQFF 2010 should have subtitles in English. Please contact organisers for more details and/or exceptions.

 Deadline. Saturday, 30th January 2010

 Submission/mailing costs. Preferably, all mailing costs for the submissions have to be borne by the director/producer or distributor. The BQFF 2010 cannot, at this juncture, support the cost of receiving copies for preview. Please contact the organisers if you are unable to bear these costs so as to arrange for alternative ways to send your films to us.

 Preview copies. Preview copies submitted for selection cannot be returned. Copies of all films will be kept with the BQFF Archives. Please contact organisers if you wish to provide alternative net-based previews of your films.