The Queiislim project has announced the latest class fellows in the Queer Frame Screenplay Lab, a programme to support emerging queer and trans filmmakers from South Asian backgrounds.
Eight filmmakers were selected for the India and Canada 2025 cohort: Ritwik Goswami, Simrat Harvind Kaur, Saniya Jaffar, Rit Prasanna, Reshmi Mohan, Talat Shakeel, Marushka Jessica Almeida, and Sania Khan. Everything is a female, trans, or non-binary creator who develops feature films that place LGBTQ+ stories in the center rather than in the margins.
Now in its third year, QueerFrames was founded in 2023 as part of the broader mission of the QueerFrames project. The platform has grown into South Asia’s largest digital network for queer voice, reaching over 70,000 people worldwide. The Lab has worked with 14 filmmakers since its release.
The programme will link figures from prominent industries, including Rohan Parashram Kanawadeh, as mentors. The film “Sax Pierce” (Sabah Bonda) won the Great Jue Prize at Sundance. Tricia Tuttle, director of the Berlin Film Festival. Indian filmmaker Vikramaditya Motwane (“Sacred Games”), Shonali Bose (“Straw and Margarita”); Nepali filmmaker Min Bahadur Bam (“Shambala”). Previous instructor Vishnu Sinha at Columbia University and Berlin talent alum Paromita Dhar are back.
Netflix and the French Institute in India are supporting this year’s programme, starting with a retreat in Goa on October 3-12, followed by a six-month virtual workshop and ongoing development support.
“These filmmakers are rewriting what queer and trans-South Asian films look like,” said Rafiul Arom Rahman, who founded both the queer Muslim project and the queer frame. “They tell stories that are not rooted in culture or community, pushing artistic and political boundaries.”
Kanawade added: “As someone who is deeply rooted in the experiences of filmmaking that lived, I know how important it is to affirm a queer frame-like space, affirm and empathize with storytellers. This lab is not just about developing scripts.
Tuttle said: “Quiaframe cultivates filmmakers whose stories are deeply rooted in South Asia, but who speak to audiences everywhere. These are films that challenge, move and expand on queer and trance.
The selected films range from multiple genres and themes. Simrat Harvind Kaur’s “Beeji Da Kangha (Grandmother’s Comb)” follows Sikh teenagers who question gender identity. Ritwik Goswami’s “Swarnapuchhri” combines environmental concerns with a strange romance in coastal communities threatened by industrial development. Saniya Jaffer’s “Kacchi Kallis” explores changing teen friendships during his vacation in Goa.
The project also includes a horror comedy by Canadian filmmaker Marsika Jessica Almeida entitled Stacey Mama. Rit Prasanna’s campus romance “Inside the Ware Rub.” The coming-of-age story of Canadian filmmaker Sania Khan, “Moon Dance, Thursday Morning,” about a Pakistani-Canadian dancer. Reshmi Mohan’s related drama “Love, Yours” opposed caste violence. And Tarat Shekele’s “Kukkah Ki Seti” is about a young Muslim woman who discovered her sexuality.
