We had a great time in Warsaw. It was great to see how many more people came out to support us marchers. Here’s a little slice of what the day was like. Happy Pride!
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Warsaw EuroPride Video
August 3, 2010 – 12:54 pm
Warsaw Revisited
July 21, 2010 – 2:45 pm
Cinema at the "Palace of Culture"
After our stops in Hamburg, Budapest and Philadelphia we met in Warsaw for EuroPride last week. It was great to share the film with so many of the folks we met there while filming in 2008, including the ever lovable Clare who was also presented an award by the EuroPride team for all her work at Prides in Eastern and Central Europe. After the screening we had a great Q&A and it was nice to hear the positive reactions from the local Polish community. One person described the experience as “surreal” seeing their relatively small march on the big screen with larger events like Sao Paulo, NYC and Toronto. 2008 was only the second legal parade in Warsaw and it is remarkable how quickly they have moved things forward there.
Even more exciting for us was to march in the EuroPride parade a few days later. What a difference from two years ago. About 8,000 more marchers, more floats and the best thing of all, spectators along the route cheering us on! It was very special, particularly for the locals to see that support. It wasn’t all disco and rainbows of course, with the extra press that EuroPride brought, it also brought out even more counter-demonstrators and there were a few firebombs, eggs and a few other goodies lobbed in our direction. It was a little unnerving but as before the 2000+ military police actually made us feel very safe. I have to give real credit to their professionalism, and did they ever come down hard on anyone who tried to disrupt the parade. 
We’ve got a lot more photos posted on our facebook page and our friends at the the Walk With Pride Project also have an awesome collection. If you haven’t seen what Chad & Sara are doing, you should definitely check out their site.
It was a great trip but it sure is great to be home. It’s nice to see change happening in Poland, but once again we were reminded how fortunate we are to live in Canada. And now we look forward to our next screening – right here at home, Vancouver Pride Movie Night, July 29th. If you haven’t gone Beyond Gay yet, now is your chance. Hope to see you there!
The BGM team at city hall beofre the march.
EuroPride is set to go Beyond Gay
July 12, 2010 – 1:08 pm
Bob is Beyond Gay at Philadelphia Q Fest
Holy screening madness Batman! The BGM team had to divide and conquer for the last series of screenings. Ken hit Hamburg Germany for a screening that launched their Pride festival on July 9th, Morris took off to Budapest Hungary for their screening on the 10th and Bobby Love hit the North American East Coast queer film fest mecca: Philly Q Fest. What’s next? Well, we are all on our way to rendez-vous in Warsaw Poland to screen the film at the Euro Film Festival at EuroPride. (July 14th) We are very excited to share the film with many of our Eastern European friends who took part in the filming at the 2008 Equality Parade. This was definitely one of the most rewarding marches we participated in, and for them to be hosting EuroPride this year is an incredible achievement. Many people in Warsaw do not understand the importance of Pride and there have been a few scary facebook groups – with literally thousands of members – that oppose the parade, and we are sure to see many nationalist protesters along the road. In ’08 there were about 2500 military police to protect us – I hope they brought in a few extras this year as it is certain there will be a lot more mis-informed individuals out trying to spoil the fun.
What we don’t know yet is whether the Canadian embassy is going to step up to the plate and fly a Rainbow flag on parade day. So far they have denied our request. This even after mailing them the hundreds of signatures we collected at screenings in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Victoria. We’ve since enlisted the help of federal MPs Hedy Fry, Libby Davies and Bill Siksay to help us out with this task, but we’ve still had no further word from ambassador Costello. If you’ve seen the film you know what a disappointment it will be if he doesn’t rethink his decision. If you have a moment to bang off your own thoughts on this – we’d sure like your support. Ambassador Daniel Costello: wsaw@international.gc.ca
That’s it from this airport lounge, we’ll update you further from EuroPride! Wish us luck.
Pride a Huge Success in St. Petersburg Russia
June 28, 2010 – 3:17 pm
We are very pleased to report that the first ever Pride March in St. Petersburg Russia took place on the weekend and although some organizers were detained, the event did take place without attacks by anti-gay protesters. A special screening of Beyond Gay also took place, it’s first showing in Russia to date. Congratulations on a successful event.
San Francisco is now Beyond Gay
June 23, 2010 – 12:04 pm
Well we have returned from the mecca of Queer culture – the 34th annual Frameline Film Festival in San Francisco – and it was a fantastic way to get in the spirit of Pride. We were very pleased to get props from popular LGBT blogger Joe. My. God. which helped pack the house at the Victoria Theater for our Sunday screening. There is nothing like a San Fran audience – the cheers and jeers throughout the screening left no doubt that they were enjoying the film. We met a number of great people – including many other festival programmers who are now requesting screeners for their festivals. It looks like there are a bunch more festival dates coming up so keep your eyes on the showings page to keep on top of the latest additions.
And of course we also managed to see a number of films and talk to a number of filmmakers and actors/personalities while we were there. One film that has been touring the circuit with us that we finally managed to catch was the documentary The Untouchable Girls about the fabulous Kiwi lesbian twin yodelers Jools and Lynday Topp. We also had time to sit down and chat with them and they are about the funniest, most honest, heart warming pair we have ever met. If you have a chance to see this doc, go! It’s hilarious, inspiring and provides an interesting glimpse into New Zealand’s LGBT history.
Thanks to all in Framline and we look forward to seeing you all at our next festival dates: Hamburg Pride, Philly Q Fest and Budapest LGBT Film Festival.
Frameline Begins
June 18, 2010 – 9:37 am
Well last night was the opening of the world’s largest and longest running film festival – Frameline!. It happened at the famous and fabulous Castro Theater and the opening film was the Secret Diaries of Anne Lister directed by James Kent. A sumptuous period piece by the BBC, it was clearly a big hit with the audience and the party after at the San Francisco Botanical Gardens was great fun. (Ginger Vodka – who knew?)
Lots of great other things to see this year, and we are thrilled to be on the list of a couple of blogger’s picks of the festival including Trevorade. So please come out and see Beyond Gay Sunday at 11 am at the Victoria Theater. Morris, Big Gay Ken, and myself will all be there and ready to celebrate afterward.
Enjoy the festival!
Bob
Another Two Awards! Best Documentary at Fairy Tales Calgary and Q Cinema Fort Worth.
June 8, 2010 – 9:28 am
Well we are in full swing of our biggest run of screenings so far and what an awesome experience it has been. The sold out house and 5 minute standing ovation at Fairy Tales in Calgary was so special, and the audience award for best documentary is really the icing on the cake. Sometimes the places you least expect it turn out to be the most pleasant surprises. Speaking of which – HELLO Q Cinema Fort Worth Texas, which we never made it to, but also honoured us with the award for best documentary. Thanks to everyone who has come out to the screenings and if you haven’t had a chance to see the film – maybe tonight in Birmingham, in San Francisco June 20th at Frameline, or on July 11th at Q Fest in Philly. Many more dates coming up as well so keep an eye on the showings page for all the dates and locations. Happy Pride!
Moscow Pride Parade Free of Violence
May 30, 2010 – 2:23 pm
Our friends in Moscow held a peaceful Pride Parade yesterday, outsmarting both the homophobes and the “authorities.”
05/30/2010 15:12:34
Russian Gays Hold Successful Pride Parade Without Arrests, Beatings
MOSCOW, Russia – Despite a vow by Moscow’s anti-gay mayor that it would not happen, 30 Russian lesbian, gay and bisexual activists foiled the police and FSB security services by holding a 10 minute flashmob Gay Pride march on one of Moscow’s major thoroughfares, Leningradsky Street, this afternoon, Saturday 29 May.
Carrying a 20 metre long rainbow flag and placards in Russian and English calling for “Rights for gays”, the protesters chanted “No homophobia” and “Russia without homophobes.”
“LGBT activists from Moscow, St Petersburg and Minsk staged today the first-ever successful Gay Pride in Moscow, despite the [government] ban,” said Nikolai Alekseev, principal organizer for Moscow Pride. “Though the March was short – it happened. All the Russian media reported that for the first time in five years, the gay parade took place in Moscow without being arrested by the police and assaulted by protesters.”
Blogging from Moscow Gay Pride
May 27, 2010 – 9:03 pm
Moscow Pride officially banned for 5th year but plans are in the works. And the French station TF1 News has aired a seven minute interview with Nikolai Alekseev.
Belarus Screening Recieves Bomb Threat
May 14, 2010 – 11:39 am
This weekend sees another Gay Pride in eastern Europe. Slavic Pride gets underway in Minsk, Belarus, on Friday. Already the planned parade on Saturday has been banned by the city authorities who used the flimsy excuse that the route was too near to metro (underground) stations and pedestrian crossings. There have also been threats to disrupt other events during Slavic Pride.
The Slavic Pride movement was founded in autumn 2008 in Minsk. The first Pride took place in Moscow on May 16 last year and coincided with Eurovision Song Contest. Moscow authorities banned the event and dozens of activists, including Peter Tatchell and Andy Thayer, were arrested by militia.
This is a “blog” of what is happening in Minsk, with contributions from a number of participants – and the aim is to be as up to date as possible.
Friday May 14th
An excerpt from the Slavic Pride blog
20:05 : Minsk Crowne Plaza Hotel is under siege by a few dozens anti-gay protesters. The hotel is hosting at 8pm local time the premiere of the Canadian documentary Beyond Gays: The Politics of Pride. At 8pm, the show did not start and only 40 participants out of the 150 who confirmed their presence could make it into the hotel.
20:00 : The event is probably going to be cancelled. The access to the hotel is blocked. Only a dozen or so participants could reach the hotel. The police is expected in the premises.
19:55: Hotel is now under seige. It is not possible to enter, and not possible to leave.
19:50: The premiere of the movie is scheduled in 10 minutes. Despite organiers keeping the location secret, Radio Liberty Belarus published the location on its website two hours ago. Sergey Androsenko reports that he has been informed by phone that protesters are on a tram, on their way to disrupt the event.
19:30: “I think we have a mess here”. The words of on of the Slavic Pride organisers as protestors gather to blockade a hotel where events are being staged.