Mubi India showcasing LGBTQ-related films for Pride Month

June is celebrated as Pride Month around the world and to highlight stories about the LGBTQ+ community, Mubi India is showcasing films that represent their lives onscreen.

The ‘Pride Unprejudiced’ spotlight by Mubi looks at a selection of ten films, both Indian and international, that look at issues of freedom, love and unity.

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The list of curated films is below:

Great Freedom

Directed by: Sebastian Meise

Unearthing heart-rending chapters of queer history in post-war Germany, Sebastian Meise’s moving drama harnesses the healing power of intimacy that blooms in defiance of systematic oppression. Franz Rogowski mesmerizes with a powerhouse performance in this absorbing tale of resilience and resistance. The story follows Hans, who is imprisoned again and again under Paragraph 175, a law criminalizing homosexuality. Over the course of decades, he develops an unlikely yet tender bond with his cellmate Viktor, a convicted murderer.

Wet Sand

Director: Elene Naveriani

An empowering love story suffused with mystery, this beautifully crafted gem from Georgian filmmaker Elene Naveriani interrogates the role of community in enforcing chronic social orthodoxies. Profoundly humanist, Wet Sand is a deeply affecting tale of resilience in the face of small-town bigotry.

The Actress

Director: Andrew Ondrejcak

In search of her unique voice, an aspiring actress infiltrates cinema history. As she traverses time, space, and gender, she shape-shifts through Hollywood’s most iconic roles, reimagining cinematic archetypes for today.

Moneyboys

Director: CB Yi

Fei works illegally as a hustler to support his family, but when he realizes they are only willing to accept his money, not his lifestyle, their relationship falls apart. He seems able to find a new lease on life after meeting the headstrong Long until his childhood love reappears.

And Then We Danced

Director: Levan Akin

Merab, a devoted dancer, has been training for years with his partner Mary for a spot in the National Georgian Ensemble. The arrival of another male dancer, Irakli, sparks both an intense rivalry and romantic desire that may cause Merab to risk his future in dance as well as his relationships.

Our Bodies Are Your Battlefields

Director: Isabelle Solas

In an Argentina torn between deep conservatism and an unprecedented feminist drive, the film delves into the political journey and the intimate lives of Claudia and Violeta, trans women who identify as transvestites.

The Booth

Director: Rohin Raveendran

Starring Parna Pethe and Amruta Subhash, the film is centred around a female frisking booth inside a crowded shopping mall that stands as a silent ally to a forbidden romance. A tender, clandestine encounter offers acute insight into the world of societal taboos and repressed desires in this pertinent short film. Filmmaker Rohin Raveendran makes exceptional use of the spaces in a shopping mall to amplify the claustrophobia experienced by its lead characters.

Is It Too Much To Ask...?

Director: Leena Manimekalai

The film follows the ordeal of two trans women, Smile and Glady, who are looking for a rental apartment in Chennai, and the obstacles and social stigma they encounter in not just looking for a home, but being single transgender women. The documentary spotlights the deep-seated misogyny of Indian society. At the same time, it’s a delight to see the determined protagonists use art and humour to battle the discrimination they experience every day.

In Fact

Director: Debalina Majumder

How do people hold on to their unique identities in a society that strives to homogenize everyone? Debalina Majumder attempts to answer this question with her thought-provoking documentary, offering a compassionate glimpse into the lives and vulnerabilities of a non-normative couple. The film offers us glimpses of lives that are lived on their own terms and in such living mark their resistance against stifling social norms that threaten to homogenize diversity. A celebration of love and togetherness with a difference; it is a celebration of the struggles to live with those differences.

Happy Together

Director: Wong Kar Wai

Wong Kar Wai pushed boundaries with this sumptuous, recently restored queer love story. The film unravels the tale of Lai and his lover Ho. The pair goes on a trip to Buenos Aires from Hong Kong. Their torrid relationship lives out among lusty tango bars and the salsa music of La Boca sidewalks. But tensions grow between the two lovers, as they find themselves far from home with their lives drifting in opposite directions.