【Watch Young Woman Bai Jie】

Baby steps,Watch Young Woman Bai Jie giant dreams.

A crowdfunded short film from India is aspiring for a coveted premiere at the Cannes Film Festival this year.

SEE ALSO: 5 times when intolerant India had a problem with Bollywood

Sisak, which claims to be the country's "first silent LGBTQ film," is a wordless love story that unfolds between two strangers aboard local trains in Mumbai.

The film's trailer was unveiled by Bollywood actor Sonam Kapoor, a Cannes regular herself, on social media.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Sisak's writer-director Faraz Arif Ansari, who studied cinema in America, says he's exhausted all his savings to make the film that was turned down by many Indian studios for dealing with a "taboo subject."

Indian law continues to criminalize gay sex. And local society, in turn, is infested with prejudices and biases against the queer community.

Mashable Trend Report Decode what’s viral, what’s next, and what it all means. Sign up for Mashable’s weekly Trend Report newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

Fortunately for Ansari, his crowdfunding call on Wishberry, the Indian equivalent of Kickstarter, met with an overwhelming response, garnering over $6,000 from 109 backers. The film was completed in nine month, at which point he could pay off his cast and crew.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

And now, festival plans are being firmed up.

"Fingers crossed...After [Cannes], it travels to festivals across the world and India," Ansari tells Mashable India. A special 15-minute cut of the 20-minute film is being readied for the event. Paid previews in Indian theaters will be held after the festival rounds.

Sisakwas never going to be a smooth ride and Ansari knew that too well. Not only were actors unwilling to play gay, but shooting locations also posed a problem.

Says Ansari, "I think while I was writing Sisak, I was aware what a massive challenge it was going to be at each and every level."

The film was shot guerrilla-style in Mumbai sans permissions from civic authorities. And a tiny crew ensured that any unpleasant incidences were avoided.

Sisakis probably India's first dedicated short feature on gay love. Most Indian films have thus far loosely touched upon the subject of homosexuality. It is rare when a gay man has been a protagonist, with the notable exception of 2016's Aligarh.

---

Featured Video For You

---

‘Her Story’ creators explain what their Emmy nomination means for LGBTQ community

---

• Tech
• Life
• Science
• Social Good
• Games
• Deals
• Digital Culture
• Shopping

• Best headphones deal: Save up to 51% on Beats at Amazon
• Facebook updates policies to crack down on shady political ads
• Donald Glover responds perfectly to Lando Calrissian's pansexuality
• Sit back, relax, and let GDPR legislation lull you into a peaceful slumber
• AMD Radeon RX 550 + Intel Pentium G4560
• Trevor Noah made a 'Black Panther' cameo that everyone missed
• Donald Glover responds perfectly to Lando Calrissian's pansexuality
• HTC is playing catch
• Bomb Envy
• Justice Department launches probe into Bitcoin price manipulation, report claims

• Staff Picks: Megg, Mogg, Maxim Maksimich by The Paris Review
• Veterans Day by Sadie Stein
• The Morning News Roundup for November 4, 2014
• All your burning questions about the oracle pug Noodle and Bones Day, answered
• Points of View, Points of Origin
• The Poet Bandit
• The Morning News Roundup for November 14, 2014
• Emma, Cover to Cover by Dan Piepenbring
• Best Labor Day sales 2023: Get these straggler deals before they're gone
• Bones or No Bones Day? Meet the 13 year

• Ireland fines TikTok $600 million for sharing user data with China
• Review: Quantic Dream's 'Detroit: Become Human'
• Woman orders 'Summa Cum Laude' cake, gets the censored version instead
• Amazon Map Tracking lets you track package delivery live
• The Sound and the “Furious”
• The sexiest ships in Star Wars
• 'The Ensemble' is an intimate debut novel about love of all kinds
• How to use GDPR to clean out your inbox once and for all
• The State of PC Gaming in 2016
• Eight women accuse Morgan Freeman of inappropriate behavior

• Samsung Unpacked stream is set for May 12, 2025
• Siri is telling people it's getting a major update at WWDC
• Justice Department launches probe into Bitcoin price manipulation, report claims
• Amazon Echo secretly sent family's private audio to some random person
• Best robot vacuum deal: Eufy Omni C20 robot vacuum and mop at record
• Amazon Echo secretly sent family's private audio to some random person
• Mark Zuckerberg blows past the most important question at EU hearing
• Why you should care about GDPR, even if you don't live in Europe
• Best speaker deal: Save $30 on the JBL Clip 5
• With Morgan Freeman out, Seth Rogen offers to be the voice of Vancouver public transit