TALES FROM THE MARGINS

Tales from the Margins

Films about LGBTIQ rights and the situation of LGBTIQ people from around the world

Tales from the Margins is a different kind of LGBTIQ film programme: I am not only showing films on LGBTIQ issues from around the world, but I am also talking with the filmmakers about their films: why they made them, the problems they faced and the impact their films had.

The programme has a global outlook and focuses on struggles and issues which LGBTIQ communities in the western world often believe, rightly or wrongly, they have long overcome. It includes both documentaries and narrative films, short films as well as feature films, and over time it aims to cover all the six letters of L, G, B, T, I and Q.

Tales from the Margins wants to stimulate discussion, create solidarity in our global community and, hopefully, be entertaining as well.

Programmer and presenter Rainer Schulze is (Emeritus) Professor of Modern European History and Human Rights. He is a Holocaust expert with a particular interest in non-Jewish victims of Nazi persecution, including gay men, and this links directly to his other interests, LGBTIQ history, LGBTIQ rights, and LGBTIQ film. Rainer is a trustee of the LGBTIQ cross arts charity Wise Thoughts, based in north London, and a programmer of their annual GFEST, and he also a member of the Academic Advisory Panel (History) for the UK LGBT History Month.

TALES FROM THE MARGINS:
Mondays and Fridays at 9.00pm on LGBT+ TV.
We are currently repeating Season 2.
Season 3 is currently in preparation: watch this space for updates!

The films shown in Tales from the Margins so far:

Season 1:

OUTED: THE PAINFUL REALITY (Uganda 2015)

based on a true story, this film looks into the life of John Alex Kigozi aka Vida who is outed by a Ugandan tabloid as one of the “top homosexuals” in the country; as a result he loses his job and his house and is hunted by the authorities. This powerful and moving film explores the dangers of being LGBTIQ In Uganda.

plus a discussion with Isaac Matuvo, co-producer, co-director and scriptwriter.

Trailer:

WE GONNA GET A FUTURE (Uganda 2015)
and
POLICE RAID ON PRIDE UGANDA 2016 (Uganda 2016)

two short documentaries about the struggles of the LGBTIQ community in Uganda, produced by members of the VOICES COMBATING HOMOPHOBIA IN UGANDA (Voices of the Abasiyazzi) project, which aims to help LGBTIQ Ugandans talk directly to their fellow Ugandans about their shared culture and lives.

plus a conversation with Tim McCarthy, filmmaker and partner in the project, and Deus Dedit Kiriisa, cameraman and editor for the project.

Trailer:

(trailer to follow)

UMUNTHU (Malawi 2013)

a first-person documentary about attitudes towards homosexuality in Malawi, investigating the complexities of tolerance, acceptance and culture with regard to LGBTIQ rights, and advocating an African approach to address stigma and discrimination through the lens of “Umunthu”, the Pan-African concept of humanity.

plus a conversation with filmmaker Mwizalero Nyirenda and Rodgeer Kumaline Phiri, Programme Director of the Art and Global Health Centre Africa in Zomba, Malawi.

Trailer:

OUT & ABOUT (Netherlands 2016)

documentary produced by the Dutch foundation Human Rights in the Picture, focusing on parents of three LGBTIQ people in three different countries where being LGBTIQ is illegal: Russia, Kenya and Indonesia, and asking how these parents deal with the social stigma, violence and criminalisation that their LGBTIQ children are facing.

plus a conversation with filmmaker Koen Suidgeest and Nadja Houben, Director of Human Rights in the Picture.

Trailer:

(trailer to follow)

DRACONIAN: HOMOSEXUALITY IN UGANDA (United Kingdom 2015)

Documentary about the situation of homosexuals in Uganda during the debates around the infamous “Kill the Gays Bill”, which was proposed by Ugandan MP David Bahati in 2009 and passed by the Ugandan parliament in December 2013 in a slightly revised version as the Anti-Homosexuality Law.

plus a conversation with filmmaker William Ranieri.

Trailer:

Season 2:

AND STILL WE RISE (Uganda 2015)

Documentary on the resistance to the infamous 2014 Anti-Homosexuality Act in Uganda, with accounts of widespread repression following the passage of the Act. It’s a story of courage and resilience, created by the people in the midst of the struggle against the AHA.

plus a conversation with Ugandan LGBTIQ activist Richard Lusimbo, co-director and one of the protagonists of the documentary.

Trailer:

GHOST EMPIRE § CYPRUS (Ireland 2013)

the first film of Susan Thomson’s Ghost Empire project series which explores the legacy of British colonialism on LGBTIQ rights around the world, focusing on the internationally unrecognised Turkish Republic of North Cyprus, the last place in Europe to criminalise homosexuality.

plus a conversation with filmmaker Susan Thomson.

Trailer:

GHOST EMPIRE § SINGAPORE (Ireland 2014)

the second film of Susan Thomson’s Ghost Empire project series, focusing on the anti-homosexuality law in Singapore, Section 377A, which dates back to the British colonial times.

plus a conversation with filmmaker Susan Thomson.

Trailer:

ROMA BOYS: THE LOVE STORY(Czech Republic 2009)

This award-winning film explores the taboo subject of homosexuality within the Roma community through the personal story of a Roma activist who happens to be gay: a vibrant and colourful film about love and activism, both funny and painful, but most importantly, it helps and supports other LGBTIQ Roma in their struggle not to deny who they are and be both: Roma and LGBTIQ.

plus a conversation with Czech Roma activist and filmmaker David Tišer.

Trailer:

(trailer to follow)

I’M NOT SICK! I’M GAY (Germany 2015)

documentary about the daily struggles of LGBTIQ people in the Central Asian Republic of Kazakhstan, focusing on Dennis and his circle of friends who live in the city of Temirtau. Being LGBTIQ is no longer illegal in Kazakhstan, but the LGBTIQ community continues to face pervasive and deeply engrained homophobic attitudes, hateful treatment, and failure of police and other state authorities to protect them from abuse and discrimination.

This film won the audience award at the 2015 Homochrom LGBT Film Festival in Cologne/Dortmund, Germany.

plus a conversation with filmmaker Alexej Getmann.

Trailer: