18:17, 5 April 2021

Premiere of a film about Chechen gay disrupted at “Artdocfest” film festival

A man named Suliman (on the left) talks to Vitaly Mansky. Photo courtesy of the organizers of the “Artdocfest” film festival https://novayagazeta.ru/articles/2021/04/04/v-chechne-nedovolny-organizatory-artdokfesta-pozhalovalis-na-ugrozy-so-storony-chechenskoi-diaspory

Tickets for the premiere of the film “Quiet Voice” about the fate of a Chechen gay were bought out after organizers of the “Artdocfest” documentary film festival did not fulfil a request of a representative of Chechnya to remove the film from the screening, director Vitaly Mansky reported.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the newspaper “Novaya Gazeta” claimed the organizers of the “Artdocfest” documentary film festival received a request from a man named Suliman to remove the film about a Chechen gay from the screening. Suliman threatened the organizers with “serious consequences” and offered to compensate spectators for ticket costs. According to the man’s claim, the film “violates the rights of Chechens” and offends their mentality, since there are “no gays” in Chechnya.

The film “Quiet Voice” directed by Rek Valerik describes a story of athlete Khavadj, who is fond of martial arts. A brother of the guy learns that he is gay and decides to kill him. After that, Khavadj has to flee to Belgium.

Let us remind you that in June 2020, the premiere of the HBO film “Welcome to Chechnya”, directed by David France, took place in the United States. The film describes a story about LGBT activists, who secretly help residents of Chechnya avoid persecution for their sexual orientation and obtain asylum. The main characters are real homosexuals who fell victim to a “witch-hunt” in Chechnya.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 5, 2021 at 02:43 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.