Filmmaker, Faraz Arif Ansari (who uses the pronoun they/them) still couldn’t believe the fact that their movie has been selected for BAFTA. Sheer Qorma won the Best Short Film Audience Award at Frameline Fest and got qualified for BAFTA.
According to the Hindustan Times, Faraz said, “I’m still a little numb. It’s the biggest queer festival in the world. A lot of people call it the Queer Oscars. This is huge and doesn’t happen every day. I read that mail, again and again, to make sure we’ve actually won it!”
They added, “It’s to do with the fact being a brown, queer, Muslim child, growing up in India in the 1990s. You don’t really think these big opportunities will really come to you. And when they do, you go to the world and they’re talking about it. It feels very surreal. I don’t want to wake up from this dream.” Faraz added the most impressive fact that “A film about a queer Muslim woman, non-binary people from India, is the first Indian film to have ever won there.”
The film stars actors like Shabana Azmi, Swara Bhaskar, and Divya Dutta. The movie revolves around the struggle of queer women trying to find love and acceptance in their lives.
Actress Swara Bhaskar had tweeted about their win in the film festival. “WE WON THE BIGGEST QUEER FILM FESTIVAL IN THE WORLD! HUGE!!! #SheerQorma becomes the 1st Indian film to win @framelinefest in the festival’s 37 years!!! #SheerQorma wins @framelinefest — the #BAFTA qualifying, longest-running, largest l queer film exhibition in the world!” she wrote.
WE WON THE BIGGEST QUEER FILM FESTIVAL IN THE WORLD!
HUGE!!! #SheerQorma becomes the 1st Indian film to win @framelinefest in the festival’s 37 years!!! 🌈✨#SheerQorma wins @framelinefest — the #BAFTA qualifying, longest running, largest l queer film exhibition in the world! pic.twitter.com/pR3E1QRfyM— Swara Bhasker (@ReallySwara) July 1, 2021
Later, she also thanked all the fans and well-wishers and wrote, “Thank you ALL for the love and good wishes for #SheerQorma Apologies for not being able to reply to each message individually! But we are feeling the Love! #LoveWins #SheerQorma #BAFTAQualified.”
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