3rd i Films Presents: 3rd i's Queer Eye :: June 6, 2010

3rd i Films Presents:
3rd i's Queer Eye :: June 6, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO, May 3, 2010

From art-house classics to documentary films, innovative and experimental visions to next-level Bollywood: 3rd i (www.thirdi.org), is committed to promoting diverse images of South Asians through independent film.

3rd i is proud to announce the launch of a brand new initiative this summer, 3rd i's Queer Eye, a mini-fest celebrating the South Asian LGBT community – and there's really a lot to celebrate these days: India repealed Penal Code 377 last year, which effectively decriminalized homosexuality; a spate of LGBT films and film festivals surge are popping up all over India; and even mainstream films are talking on queer themes boldly (the first full-on male-on-male kiss arrives this summer in Bollywood!).

3rd i Queer Eye puts a South Asian lens on the LGBT experience, and unfolds over an evening on June 6 at the VIZ Cinema in San Francisco.

The evening includes a program of shorts, "Queer South Asian Shorts", including:  Are We Talking Straight?, an enlightening survey on the streets of Calcutta about current cultural attitudes towards homosexuality in India; Sachin Kundalkar's The Bath, a poignant film about a Mumbai male sex worker; Jehangir Jani's Make-ups, a poetic observation of an ageing actress (Bollywood superstar of yesteryear Zeenat Aman), a gay man cruising the local train station, and a call-girl on the way to her john; Bay Area filmmaker Punam S.' Hollywood-spoof Mr. and Mrs. Singh; Tejal Shah's I Think There's a Spider Living Between Us, a frank and biting short where the filmmaker ponders the sexual life of her parents and Chingari Chumma – Stinging Kiss (made in collaboration with Anuj Vaidya) in which a hackneyed Bollywood ending gets an explicit treatment. Local filmmakers will be in attendance.

Following the shorts program is the Feature Presentation, Freddie Mercury: The Untold Story (Director's Cut). Rudi Dolezal's documentary traces the life of the legendary frontman of Queen, from his formative years in India to the height of his fame in England. 3rd i is pleased to offer a San Francisco Premiere of the soon-to-be-released Director's Cut, featuring previously unseen interviews with Freddie Mercury and more live performance. This updated version was recently featured at the Chicago International Film Festival and at Roger Ebert's Festival of Overlooked Films.

June 6, 2010 @ VIZ Cinema5pm Queer South Asian Shorts
7pm Freddie Mercury: The Untold Story (Director's Cut 2010)

Tickets are $10 for each film or $16 for both. For complete program information, including showtimes, ticket prices and other events, please visit our website at – www.thirdi.org.

3rd i's Queer Eye is made possible, in part, through a sponsorship from Wells Fargo Bank.


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