Indian filmmaker in Berlinale jury

Indian filmmaker Sridhar Rangayan, who has made critically acclaimed films on transsexuals like 'The Pink Mirror' and 'Yours Emotionally!', has been invited to be part of the jury for the Teddy awards at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival.

The Teddy Award is an international film award given to films with LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) context that are screened at the prestigious festival, to be held Feb 11-21.

Rangayan, who is also the festival director at the upcoming Mumbai International Queer Film Festival called Kashish, is extremely excited about being a jury at the Berlinale.

'I am honoured and privileged to be considered for this jury position at one of the world's oldest, biggest and most prestigious film festival. More than anything else, I see this as a significant opportunity to place the Indian LGBT movement on an international platform and draw attention to the nascent Indian queer film movement of which our Kashish film festival is a step forward,' Rangayan said in a press release.

Rangayan says he will also try to bring international filmmakers from Berlinale to come to Mumbai for the Kashish festival.

'At Berlinale, I'll also try to persuade some of the filmmakers whose films will be screening there to come to Kashish film festival in Mumbai, making the festival truly international, interactive and energising,' he added.

Rangayan is part of an independent jury, consisting of eight members who view films within the framework of all programmes of the Berlinale and award a 3,000-Euro Teddy award to a feature film, a short film and a documentary.

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