India's Silent LGBTQ Love Story SISAK Tops Queer Bits Film Festival

Members of the sold-out audience at the seventh edition of the semi-annual Queer Bits Film Festival on Saturday, June 17 selected a silent film depicting same-sex love affairs in India, where homosexual activity is illegal, as their favorite of the 11 films screened in the festival.

SISAK is India's first silent LGBTQ love story and this short film tributes all of the LGBTQ relationships that must fall silent. After hearing of his film's success at Queer Bits, Faraz said, "with my film, I have been trying to open a much needed dialogue and give voice to the Queer Community back home that [has] been denied the basic human right to love ... With SISAK, I hope, people see that there is nothing wrong in two people loving each-other. So what if they happen to be of the same-sex? Look at the world around us. We don't need any more hate. We need acceptance. We need love. A lot of love and love is the only way to save the day or whatever is left of it."

The film is currently circulating film festivals all over the world; it has been accepted at 27 festivals and has won Best Short Film at FilmOut (San Diego), Wicked Queer (Boston), and now Queer Bits! Director Faraz Arif Ansari has also just announced the India premiere of Sisak in Delhi next month.

This spring's set list also included individual narratives ranging from the realities of dating a lesbian stripper, facing expulsion as a bi-gender musician.

The full lineup of films was:

- 5A-5B, directed by Michael Cicetti, Comedy Short

- Coming Full Circle, directed by Kim Yaged, Comedy Short

- Dawn, directed by Jake Graf, Dramatic Short

- Dressed, directed by Sydney O'Haire, Student Short

- Dusk, directed by Jake Graf, Dramatic Short

- From Head to Toes, directed by Omery Chrystophe, Dramatic Short

- Honor Council, directed by Scott Simonsen, Comedy Short

- A Parable of Waiting, directed by Angie Panganiban, Student Short

- Sisak, directed by Faraz Arif Ansari, Dramatic Short

- Tailor, directed by Suma Filmes, Documentary Short

- Taste of Love, directed by Paul Scheufler, Student Short

The films were selected from submissions across many genres - from drama to comedy to documentary to student productions - and from countries all over the world, including Austria, France, Brazil and the UK.

Audience members had an opportunity to engage with three of the Queer Bits Directors, Angie Panganiban (A PARABLE OF WAITING), Sydney O'Haire (DRESSED) and Michael Cicetti (5A-5B), during a Q&A lead by Company Member Dan Pal.

Pride Films and Plays' first film production, Counting, has been selected to be screened in the fourth annual Chicago Onscreen: Local Film Showcase, a five-day festival of locally made and Chicago-focused films, sponsored by the Chicago Parks District. This year's festival will be presented in nine different parks throughout Chicago over five consecutive days, from August 29 through September 2nd. Counting, which has won many awards in the film festival circuit this past year will be shown in three of the festival's nine screenings:

Tuesday, August 29 at Northerly Island, 1521 S. Linn White Dr.
Thursday, August 31 at Ellis Park, 3520 S. Cottage Grove Ave
Thursday, August 31 at Wicker Park, 1425 N. Damen Avenue

All screenings start at 8 pm. More information is available at www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/events/chicago-onscreen.

Friends of PFP to hold an open picnic at the August 31 screening at Wicker Park
Fans of PFP are invited to meet up at Wicker Park at 7:30 pm with their dinner and a blanket, and enjoy dinner together before the screening starts at 8:00 pm.

The first screening and incarnation of Queer Bits occurred in November 2012 at Center on Halsted's Hoover-Leppen Theatre. The enthusiasm for that and a subsequent festival in November 2013 led PFP to continue the festival as an on-going event, twice a year. The Queer Bits Film Festival is typically a sold-out 90-minute program of short narrative, animated, foreign language, student, and documentary films. In April 2016, Queer Bits AltReels was presented which included slightly longer films which were more experimental in form and storytelling.

Pride Films and Plays changes lives through the generation of diverse new work (or work that is new to Chicago) with LGBTQ+ characters or themes that is essential viewing for all audiences. We accomplish this mission through fully-staged productions, writing contests and staged readings, film screenings, and special events. We foster long term relationships with artists to create programming that is as diverse, unique, and complex as the community we represent. In 2015, Huffington Post called PFP "A powerful and empowering entity." The company acquired its two performance spaces at 4139 and 4147 N. Broadway in July 2016, renaming the spaces the Pride Arts Center.

Pride Films and Plays is supported by The MacArthur Fund for Arts & Culture at The Richard Driehaus Foundation, The Illinois Arts Council, City of Chicago's City Arts Fund, the Elliott Fredland Charitable Trust, Proud to Run, the AmazonSmile Foundation, Arts and Business Foundation, Tap Root Foundation and Alphawood Foundation.

PFP is a member of the Smart Growth Program of the Chicago Community Trust. Pride Films and Plays is a member of the LGBT Chamber of Commerce of Illinois and The League of Chicago Theatres.

For more information, visit www.pridefilmsandplays.com or call 1.800.737.0984.

Pride Arts Center (PAC) opened in 2016 and consists of two performance spaces: The Buena at 4147 N. Broadway which has 50 seats and The Broadway at 4139 N. Broadway which has 85 seats, and it is run by Pride Films and Plays. PAC has become an important part of the arts environment in the Buena Park neighborhood and beyond by hosting events including After Orlando, Bechdel Fest, SheFest and the 525,600 Minutes Cabaret. Additional tenants in 2017 include Walkabout Theater, New American Folk Theater, Cor Productions, Underscore Music Theater, 20% Productions, About Face Youth Theater, Another Door Productions, and of course Pride Films and Plays. For The Love Of (Or The Roller Derby Play) is currently being performed in The Buena.

For more information about space at Pride Arts Center, visit www.prideartscenter.com, or www.pridefilmsandplays.com.

Pictured: Directors Michael Cicetti, Sydney O'Haire, Angie Panganiban and Dan Pal. Pride Films and Plays' Counting to be screened in Chicago Onscreen: Local Film Showcase

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