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Beyond Gay: The Politics of Pride
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Wikipedia article
'Beyond Gay: The Politics of Pride' is a 2009 documentary directed by Bob Christie, where he examines relevance of LGBT pride celebrations internationally, against the backdrop of opposition to such events in a number of countries.Natasha Barsotti, "Where do we go from here?" 'Xtra West', July 29, 2010. The documentary tries to portray pride as more than just a parade, but rather an important step on the road to equality and fight against homophobia and discrimination.Randy Shore, "Around the world with Pride; Film explores the politics of Pride, and why the fight for global human rights remains as urgent as ever". 'Vancouver Sun', August 1, 2009. It was produced with Transmission in association with Border2Border Entertainment and Nomadic Pictures.
Synopsis
Over the course of a year, the film follows Vancouver Pride Society president Ken Coolen to various international Pride events, including Poland, Hungary, Russia, Sri Lanka and others where there is great opposition to pride parades.Susan Dunne, "The Struggle for Acceptance". 'Hartford Courant', May 27, 2010. In North America, Pride is complicated by commercialization and a sense that the festivals are turning away from their political roots toward tourism, party promotion and entertainment. Christie documents the ways larger, more mainstream Pride events have supported the global Pride movement and how human rights components are being added to more established events. In the New York sequence, leaders organize an alternative Pride parade, the Drag March, set up to protest the corporatization of New York Pride. A parade in So Paulo, the world's largest Pride festival, itself includes a completely empty float, meant to symbolize all those lost to HIV and to anti-gay violence.Rob Salerno, "Documentary examines Pride, from protest movement to business concern". 'Xtra!', May 16, 2010.
Appearances
A number of personalities appear in interviews for the documentary including:<
* Ken Coolen Parade Director, Vancouver Pride Society
* Gilbert Baker Creator of the GLBT Rainbow flag
* Sahran Abeysundara Director of Equal Ground Sri Lanka
* Tomasz Baczkowski President, Warsaw Equality Parade
* Dean Nelson Director, Vancouver Pride Society
* Libby Davies Member of Parliament, Vancouver East
* Fatima Amarshi Executive Director, Pride Toronto
* Scott Long Human Rights Watch
* Rev. Brent Hawkes Metropolitan Church of Toronto
* Gareth Henry J-FLAG Jamaica
* Franco Reinado President, Gay & Lesbian Travel Assoc of Brazil
* Nikolai Alekseev Founder, Moscow Pride
* Cleve Jones Creator of Names Project Memorial Quilt, friend to Harvey Milk
Events covered
The documentary shows footage of a number of parades including:
*'InterPride 2007 (Zurich Switzerland)' where Ken Coolen and parade co-director, Dean Nelson, attend an international conference of Pride organizations. Many human rights activists are interviewed, including American artist and activist Gilbert Baker, creator of the first rainbow flag.
*'So Paulo Pride Parade (Brazil)' where 4 million participants in a government-sponsored Pride with the theme of the year 'Homophobia Kills!'
*'Moscow Pride (Russia)' with archiving clandestine preparations for this event and a violent counter protest
*'Pride Colombo (Sri Lanka)' where Pride events are only advertised after they take place, in order to protect the identities of those who attend. Meeting Sahran Abeysundra, who later travels to Canada to be a Grand Marshal in Vancouver Parade.
*'Vancouver Pride (Canada)' for the anniversary entitled 'Celebrating 30 Years of the Rainbow'
Awards
;Morris Chapdelaine, Oliver-Barret Lindsay, Charlie David and Bob Christie:
*2009: 'Won' Jury Award for Best Documentary at Image+Nation Festival in Montreal, Canada
*2009: 'Won' the Audience Award for "Documentary" category at Out on Film; Atlanta LGBT Film Festival.
*2009: 'Won' the Best Documentary Award at Fairy Tales International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, Calgary Alberta
*2009: 'Won' the Best Documentary Award at Q Cinema, Fort Worth Texas
*2009: 'Won' the Best Documentary Award at Reel Pride, Winnipeg Manitoba
*2009: 'Won' the Jury Award for "Best Documentary Film" at Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival
*2009: 'Won' the Audience Award for "Favorite Documentary" at Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival
*2010: 'Won' the HBO Best Documentary Film Award at the Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
*2010: 'Won' the "Best of the Festival" award at Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival
;Others
*2010: Michael Wiskar 'Nominated' for "Best Musical Score in a Documentary Program or Series" at Leo Awards
*2010: Steve Schmidt 'Nominated' for "Best Picture Editing in a Documentary Program or Series" at Leo Awards
References
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