GemArts Masala Festival  A weeklong festival celebrating a mix and blend of the finest South Asian Arts and Culture

Masala Festival begins with a curated evening of short films, featuring Love Works (Little Elephant and Chariot Riders), Diana, Big Time – My Doodled Diary, I Am and Poshida.

ALIVE! is a celebration of being South Asian and lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender in the world today, through live action drama, digital animation and documentary genres.  
The programme features home-grown filmmakers, as well as those from the USA and South Asia. These films portray homosexual and transgender lives, set in 1980s urban India, on a historic day in 90s Britain, as well as in contemporary Pakistan and the West Midlands.
These are stories of childhood innocence, first love, growing pains; of hardship, brutality and self-acceptance; stories of hope, resilience, a better tomorrow, and ultimately about being ALIVE!

Producer, and curator of ALIVE!, Bobby Tiwana will facilitate this specially selected programme of films including his ‘Love Works’ Duology.

Post-event discussion with filmmakers, academics and LGBT sector representatives.

Age 14+ (one film contains brief nudity).

Presented with Sage Gateshead. With special thanks to The Gateshead Housing Company.
Love Works is supported by Arts Council England, co-commissioned by GemArts.

Films featured in ALIVE!
Love Works, Little Elephant and Chariot Riders  Dir. Kate Jessop
Big Time – My Doodled Diary    Dir. Sonali Gulati
Diana    Dir. Aleem Khan
Poshida    Dir. Faizan Fiaz
I Am    Dir. Sonali Gulati

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