The most colourful month of the year is back. Mumbai is celebrating all shades of love and identity with immense pride. Pride month has officially begun! Celebrating voices across identities, KASHISH film festival is back with its 17th edition with a new theme. This year’s pride theme is “Reflect, Resonate, Rejoice”, encouraging the queer community and its allies to look back with honesty, honouring their legacy, letting their truth echo through collective experiences and celebrating the ever-resilient joy that binds the community together. The festival is on from June 3 to June 7. Grab your tickets and take a glimpse into the community that continues to thrive through thick and thin.
KASHISH Film Festival 2026
Voted as one of the top fifteen LGBTQ+ film festivals across the world, Kashish Film Festival is considered South Asia’s biggest rainbow film festival. Moreover, it is the very first of its kind to be in India with a five-day agenda featuring 154 LGBTQ+ films, documentaries and shorts from across 43 countries. This year’s country of focus is Spain. Honouring that, the film festival is featuring 4 feature films and 13 short films from the country, along with a panel on Spanish Film.
The grand opening ceremony that took place on Wednesday, June 3, at Liberty Cinema opened with the award-winning movie, Jimpa, with Olivia Colman, Aud Mason-Hyde, and John Lithgow. Additionally, the colourful community celebrity began with a gathering of actors, filmmakers, and artists, reaffirming the festival’s key role in bringing queer storytelling to the limelight. With larger-than-life performances and star-studded appearances, the festival hosted prominent names from the Indian film industry, including Konkona Sen Sharma, Parthy Thiruvothu, Rajshri Deshpande, Lillette Dubey, and Nikkhil Advani.
Along with international queer films from France, Argentina, the UK, Germany, Brazil, the US, Finland, and more, the festival also honours regional LGBTQ+ feature films from India. One of the highlights is the screening of A (dis)liked Story (Na Aavadti Goshta), a 2025 award-winning Marathi coming-of-age film directed by Sai Deodhar that explores love, identity, and the importance of familial acceptance within the LGBTQ+ community. And, Cactus Pears (Sabar Bonda), yet another 2025 highly acclaimed Marathi romantic drama, focuses on a tender gay relationship navigating oppressive societal expectations and quiet grief in rural India. The festival is further screening intimate documentary shorts and features that are a must-watch.
The ceremony is closing with an award ceremony and a special screening of the Spanish narrative feature film, Maspalomas, at Liberty Cinema on June 7.
Venues and Tickets
The festival screening is taking place across three key locations, Liberty Cinema in Marine Lines, Alliance Française in Marine Lines, and National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) in Fort. You can register for a full festival pass that gives you access to all days across venues or a weekend pass for Saturday & Sunday across venues. You can also go for a day pass for selected films across venues. Be sure that the festival only allows individuals above 18 years of age to attend.
Check out the schedule for the remaining days here.
You can buy the tickets online or go for a spot registration at the following timings:
Liberty Cinema on June 3 | 2:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Liberty Cinema from June 4–7 | 9:00 AM – 9:30 PM
NGMA from June 4–7 | 10:00 AM – 6:30 PM
Key Information
📅 Wednesday, June 3 to Sunday, June 7
⏰10:30 AM to 7:30 PM
💸₹ 500/- for day passes
📍Liberty Cinema, Marine Lines
Alliance Française, Marine Lines
National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Fort
🎟️Book your tickets here
