Lokesh Kumar (born 29 June 1989) is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter. He is recognised for his Tamil language feature film My Son Is Gay.
Life and career Lokesh Kumar was born on 29 June 1989 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu (India).Chennai is still close-minded: Filmmaker Lokesh (Interview), by: Indo-Asian News Service; in the Business Standard; published April 10, 2014; retrieved July 1, 2020My Son is Gay: How A Bold New Feature Is Taking Indian Queer Cinema By Storm, by: Dhrubo Jyoti; in the Gaylaxy; published May 14, 2014; retrieved July 1, 2020 He did his schooling in Kalashetra Matriculation and Higher Secondary School, Chennai, after which he went to study Mechanical Engineering at S.A. Polytechnic College. After college he worked in the corporate sector for a few years. In 2013, he quit his corporate job and started making independent films.Interview : Film Maker, Lokesh, by: Queer Coolie; in the Gaysi; published August 8, 2013; retrieved July 1, 2020 He made few experimental short films and by 2014, he decided to make an independent feature film which dealt with a teenage boy coming out to his mother, the film went through a lot of issues and delayed.Do the crowds always give?, by: Subha J Rao; in The Hindu; published March 6, 2017; retrieved July 1, 2020A look at 'My Son Is Gay' - India's first crowd-funded LGBT film by: Yogesh Pawar; in the DNA (newspaper); published May 18, 2014; retrieved July 1, 2020‘My Son is Gay’ makers start crowd-funding campaign, by: Indo-Asian News Service; in the Indian Express; published July 13, 2014; retrieved July 1, 2020 By 2016, the film was fully completed with the help of an NRI producer Anil Saxena.Making waves internationally, by: Balajee C R; in the Deccan Chronicle; published November 13, 2017; retrieved July 1, 2020‘I don’t have to be gay to direct a film about a gay man’, by: S Subhakeerthana; in the Cinema Express; published November 19, 2017; retrieved July 1, 2020 His film My Son Is Gay is the first Tamil feature film on gay relationship in the 100 years of Tamil Cinema existence.100 years of Tamil Cinema: My Son is Gay, Kollywood’s first gay feature film, by: Vinay Arote; in the Mumbai Mirror; published April 23, 2018; retrieved July 1, 2020 The film was screened in several international film festivals and earned him many awards.Bollywood Needs More LGBTQ Stories, Indian Movie Star Says, by: Umberto Bacchi; in the HuffPost; published June 28, 2018; retrieved July 1, 2020Seven kickass Tamil movies that normalise LGBTQIA+ on the silver screen, by: ArunKumar Shekhar; in The New Indian Express; published June 30, 2018; retrieved July 1, 2020Why south Indian films can’t shake off the queer phobia, by: Shruthi Joshua; in The Federal; published August 5, 2019; retrieved July 1, 2020
Filmography
Year Title Notes 2013 You're My Brother Short film 2013 Wait a Minute Short film 2013 Judgement Short film 2014 Acid Short film 2015 Darkness Short film 2017 My Son Is Gay Winner—Best Film, Indian World Film FestivalWinner—Best Of Out & Loud, Pune International Queer Film FestivalWinner—Best Debut Director, Dada Saheb Phalke Film FestivalWinner—Best Film, Jury Award, Jaffna International Cinema Festival 2023 N4 Feature Film 2024 The Last One (film) Feature Film (In Pre-production)
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