Faraz Arif Ansari on Sheer Qorma qualifying for BAFTA: I am still numb, reading that mail

Filmmaker Faraz Arif Ansari (who uses the pronouns they/ them) cannot believe that their film, Sheer Qorma, has won Best Short Film Audience Award at Frameline Fest. With this, the short film has also qualified for BAFTA awards.

They gush, “I’m still a little numb. It’s the biggest queer festival in the world. A lot of people call it the Queer Oscars. This is huge and doesn’t happen every day. I read that mail again and again, to make sure we’ve actually won it!”

Adding why this is such a big deal for them, they continue and reveal it’s the first Indian film to win there in the 45 years of the festival’s existence.

“It’s to do with the fact being a brown, queer, Muslim child, growing up in India in the 1990s. You don’t really think these big opportunities will really come to you. And when they do, you go to the world and they’re talking about it. It feels very surreal. I don’t want to wake up from this dream,” says Ansari, adding that what’s really impressive for them is that, “A film about a queer Muslim woman, non-binary people from India, is the first Indian film to have ever won there.”

In fact, the filmmaker earlier didn’t even know that the film has created history.

Ansari reveals, “I had no idea until I was told by people in San Francisco. There’s a massive queer Desi community there, they promoted the film. They reached out to me and told me, and I was shocked.”

Equally surprised was veteran Shabana Azmi, who stars in the film. The director says she couldn’t believe the win as well.

“I, Divya Dutta and Swara Bhasker talk almost everyday. It feels unreal that Shabana ji agreed to do the film. It’s such an honour. When I told her this news, she said, ‘What? Are you sure?’ We all really appreciate the fact that we all invested our hearts and souls into it. I feel very humbled,” they conclude.