Gay russian movie

‘Potato’ charms with tale of gay Russian immigrant and his mom

When “Brokeback Mountain” was released in , the world was a very different place.

Now, as it returns to the big screen (beginning June 20) in celebration of its 20th anniversary, it’s impossible not to watch at it with a different pair of eyes. Since its release, marriage equality has become the law of the land; queer visibility has gained enough ground in our popular culture to authorize for diverse queer stories to be told; openly queer actors are cast in blockbuster movies and ‘must-see’ TV, sometimes even playing queer characters. Yet, at the same hour, the world in which the movie’s two “star-crossed” lovers live – a rural, unflinchingly conservative America that has neither place nor tolerance for any kind of love outside the conventional norm – once felt like a place that most of us wanted to assume was long gone; now, in a cultural atmosphere of resurgent, Trump-amplified stigma around all things diverse, it feels uncomfortably enjoy a vision of things to come.

For those who have not yet seen it (and yes, there a

Documentaries:

KIEV BLUE
dir. Heather MacDonald (available on video from Filmakers Library, , East 40th St., New York, NY , tel. () )

(I reviewed this in Soviet &Post Soviet Review, 22 No. 1, ) Documentary about gay men &lesbians in Kiev pre-coup.

TO MY WOMEN FRIENDS
dir. Natalia Sharandak, (available on video from Frameline)

Revealing interviews with six Russian lesbians who convey the hardshipsand joys of being a female homosexual in Russia. While Tatjana speaks hesitantly abouther sexuality, believing it to be a private matter, Muchabat charminglyflirts with the filmmaker, "We'll make the feature after we possess sex,okay?" This fascinating documentary touches on a range of issues includingwomen's prisons, transsexuality, lesbian and gay community organizing, comingout and homophobia. Under Article which criminalizes homosexuality--lesbiansand same-sex attracted men in Kiev face the threat of imprisonment, blackmail, governmentharassment, and family rejection.

Vignettes of lesbians in Leningrad including singer/poet Olga Krauzeand a cross-dresser who works as a mail train condu

&#;Firebird&#; Review: Steamy Gay Cold War Drama Recalls Russia&#;s Past Atrocities

Not that we needed a reminder, but Russia&#;s recent human rights violations — while flagrant — are sadly not a fresh phenomenon. David France&#;s &#;Welcome to Chechnya&#; documented the horrific genocide being waged against LGBTQ people in what is now a Russian Republic, a terrifying autograph of what could lay in store for LGBTQ Ukrainians. Taking an altogether different tack, the stately period drama &#;Firebird&#; tells the true story of an ill-fated military romance between two men in Soviet-occupied Estonia during the late s and adv &#;80s.

Based on a memoir by Sergey Fetisov, the steamy Frosty War drama honors this confused chapter of gay history with a handsome rendering that only occasionally stumbles under the weight of historical accuracy. The film&#;s tragic throughline won&#;t break any molds, but with smoldering performances by its two strapping new leads, the target audience is unlikely to care.

Despite the heat of its title, &#;Firebird&#; begins in the water as three lithe b

Elton John slams Russian cuts to Rocketman gay scenes

LOS ANGELES (REUTERS) - Elton John on Friday criticised Russia's reported censorship of gay sex scenes in the new movie musical based on his experience, Rocketman, calling the choice "cruelly unaccepting of the love between two people."

John and the makers of Rocketman, which depicts the warts-and-all rise to fame of the gay British musician, issued a remark after Russian media reported that scenes involving queer sex and drug taking had been cut from a screening in Russia.

"We reject in the strongest possible terms the choice to pander to local laws and censor Rocketman for the Russian market," John and the filmmakers said.

"That the local distributor has edited out certain scenes, denying the audience the opportunity to observe the film as it was intended, is a sad reflection of the divided world we still live in and how it can still be so cruelly unaccepting of the love between two people," their statement added.

The English-language Moscow Times on Friday quoted a Russian film critic who had seen the film at its May 16 worl