Cinema of Civil Protest

„This Is Gay Propaganda: LGBT Rights & the War in Ukraine“
Canada 2015, Director: Marusya Bociurkiw
You’ve probably heard of Ukraine‘s Euromaidan revolution. You may not be aware that LGBT activists played a significant role in this uprising. This groundbreaking film follows the progress of the Euromaidan revolution, and the Russian invasion that followed, from the perspective of LGBT Ukrainians. The film’s director, a queer Canadian of Ukrainian descent, travelled to three Ukrainian cities in 2014, tracking the impact of Russia’s “gay propaganda law”, in Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine. Meet Alexandra, whose face was on a “Wanted” poster plastered across the city of Donetsk; Vlad, a gay activist hiding out in an LGBT safe house in Kyiv; Olena, who taught women’s self- defence classes during Euromaidan and now fights the spread of anti-gay laws in Eastern Europe. From harrowing accounts  of exile and torture, to stories of creative resistance, this film shows a side of the conflict in Ukraine the world has not yet seen.
Marusya Bociurkiw is the award-winning writer/director of ten films and videos, including “What’s the Ukrainian Word for Sex?”, and the author of five books. She is a longtime media activist: her multi-genre work, which links issues of ethnicity, nation, sexuality, and social justice, has been presented on four continents. She is associate professor of media theory, and director of The Studio for Media Activism & Critical Thought, at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada.
Moderation: Dr. Weronika Suchacka