Note: Those who have already submitted their films as per the previous announcement in the month of June 2010, please ignore this announcement.
Siddhartha Gautam Film Festival 2010
Call for Films
For the Sixth Edition of Siddhartha Gautam Film Festival in Orissa
from August 13-21, 2010
Entry Closes on: August 3, 2010
Greetings from SAATHII on behalf of Sampark, a civil society advocacy forum for advancing the health and rights of sexual minorities and people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Orissa.
It’s our immense pleasure to announce that SAATHII and Sampark are going to organize “Siddhartha Gautam Film Festival 2010” in Orissa from August 13-21, 2010. This will be the sixth edition of the film festival, and third in Orissa.
Interact Worldwide, London and DFID-Civil Society Challenge Fund, Glasgow are providing us technical and funding support respectively for this initiative through a project titled “Building the Capacity of People Living with HIV and Sexual Minorities in Orissa and West Bengal to Advance their Health and Rights”.
About Siddhartha Gautam Film Festival
Siddhartha Gautam was a lawyer and human rights activist and worked on a variety of issues related to discrimination against vulnerable groups of people inIndia. He was one of the first persons in India to talk about sexuality and HIV/AIDS as human rights issues, and started AIDS Bhedbhav Virodhi Andolan, the first Indian AIDS activist group, in New Delhi in 1989-90.
This is an effort to continue Siddhartha’s engagement with human rights issues, and through it, pay tribute to his vision and spirit. The event is a humble contribution to remember and take forward the pioneering work done by Siddhartha Gautam to promote and protect the rights of sexual minorities and people living with HIV. In particular, the film festival tries to support and encourage Indian filmmakers.
For the first time, SAATHII and its partner organizations organized the festival in Kolkata in 2003. In 2007, the festival crossed the borders into Bhadrak district in Orissa, the first ever venue for the festival outside West Bengal. Bhadrak was also where SAATHII started mobile film shows, adding another innovation to the Siddhartha Gautam Film Festival agenda.
About SAATHII and Sampark: SAATHII is a registered non-profit organization that strengthens HIV prevention, care, support, treatment and associated gender, sexuality, human rights and sexual and reproductive health initiatives in India. Sampark is a civil society coalition for advocacy and capacity building of sexual minorities and PLHIV in Orissa to advance their health and rights. Sampark was formed in March 2009 as part of an initiative of SAATHII, undertaken in technical partnership with Interact Worldwide, London and with funding support from Department for International Development – Civil Society Challenge Fund, Glasgow.
About Siddhartha Gautam Film Festival 2010
Like 2009, SGFF 2010 would be organized through hall based screenings and mobile film shows. Hall based screenings would be held on August 13-14, 2010 inBhubaneswar and mobile film shows would be conducted from August 16-21, 2010 in some of the selected districts of Orissa.
Festival theme: This year the festival aims to highlight and support legal efforts to protect the rights of people living with HIV and decriminalize same-sex love inIndia. The films will be seen by a diverse audience of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersexed, Kothi, Hijra and other queer people; people infected or affected by HIV; social workers; health care providers; government officials; college and university students; and media persons. Families and friends of queer people and people living with HIV will be especially welcome.
A Brief on SAATHII Rainbow Film Award 2010
We are happy to announce the SAATHII Rainbow Film Award 2010, the first award of its kind in India that honours Indian films portraying sexual minorities, issues that concern them and actors in the roles of lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender characters. The main aim of the awards is to make the “voices of sexual minorities” heard by filmmakers and convey the message that sexual minorities have an opinion on the films that portray them. These opinions should be taken seriously by the filmmakers and other artists involved in the making of films, so that the portrayal of sexual minorities becomes more sensitive and mature. This year the awards would be decided by a five-member jury of community leaders representing the “rainbow diversity” among sexual minority communities. At the end of SGFF 2010, the jury will declare the award winning film(s).
Call for entries
Filmmakers interested in participating are requested send their films in the following format, along with the mentioned documents
a) Format: DVD formats (compatible with Indian systems)
b) Documents : Screening permission letter, synopsis (which should include – film title, genre, production / release year, duration, director’s name, and full contact information - e-mail address, landline / mobile number, complete postal address)
c) Still Images: Also please don’t forget to submit one or two digital photographs of the film
d) Length of Videos and Subtitles: Festival films (shorts, documentaries, docu-features and feature films, music video) of any length suitable to the festival themes will be welcome. But all films must be subtitled in English.
We especially encourage films produced in India and those that focus on the Indian, Indian Diaspora and South Asian contexts.
We will also be approaching a number of filmmakers whose productions are already available in SAATHII’s reference libraries in Kolkata and Bhubaneswar.
Please note that there is no entry fee for participation. All films will be subject to a selection process by the festival jury. SAATHII will be happy to include the films submitted in its reference libraries which together constitute one of the largest resources in eastern India for material on health and human rights.
The selected films along with the festival programming and schedules will be announced on the SAATHII website in the coming days. Please also look out for further announcements.
Deadline for submission: August 3, 2010
All queries related to film submission, selection or any other issue should be addressed to saathiihelpline@rediffmail.com with a subject line “SGFF 2010 – Orissa”
Submission Address: All copies of the films should be sent to the following address (Please write “SGFF 2010 – Orissa” on the cover of your submission)
SAATHII, Bhubaneswar Office
N3/301, IRC Village, Nayapalli
Bhubaneswar – 751 015
Orissa, India
Phone: 91 674 255 2845
e-mail: saathiihelpline@rediffmail.com
For further queries, please contact members of SGFF 2010 organizing committee:
1) Biswa Bhusan Pattanayak
2) K. Santosh Kumar
3) Mitali Mohanty
4) Pawan Dhall
On behalf of Sampark coalition
SOURCE
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