Side by Side On the Road: III Film Festival, Moscow 24 -27 April, 2014

Side by Side LGBT Film Festival takes to the Russian capital once again offering to the Moscow public between 24 – 27 April, 2014 some of the major highlights from the autumn’s 2013 Saint Petersburg programme. Providing the setting for the festival are Sakharov Center and Project Fabrika.

On the offering this year are 24 films including winners from Sundance and Berlin film festivals. Opening Side by Side is Matterhorn, by Dutch director Diederik Ebbinge, which won both critics and audience acclaim at the 35th Moscow International Film Festival as well as the 6th Side by Side LGBT Film Festival, Saint Petersburg, 2013. The selection of features, documentaries and shorts raise many actual problems for the Russian context addressing such issues as hate crime (Valentine Road, Marta Cunningham), HIV / AIDS (We Were Here, David Weissman), acceptance of LGBT within the Church (In the Name of…, Malgoska Szumowska) and the question of lesbian separatism and feminism (Lesbiana: A Parallel Revolution, Myriam Fougère). Canadian director Myriam Fougère will be in attendance joining the festival in a Q & A after the screening of her documentary film and will be ready to answer questions about her experiences of the women’s movement in the 1970s and 80s in the USA and Canada.

A new edition, specially curated for the Moscow programme, is a selection of fiction and documentary shorts from Holland: Dutch Courage. The collection of films reflect the realities of the situation in the Netherlands and despite being a perceived as a highly liberal country the problems concerning LGBT are still acute and many individual still face difficulties in their fight to be themselves. Following the screening there will be a Q & A with filmmakers Jan-Dirk Bouw, Silvie Konings, Laszlo and Dylan Tonka and director of the Amsterdam Pink Days LGBT Film Festival Werner Borkes.

In Saint Petersburg, 2013 the festival came under unprecedented attack, there being 5 hoax bomb threats made by an unknown caller. In spite of these difficult times, Side by Side, aims to keep moving forward. Sharing the sentiments expressed by Silvie Konings in her address to the audience: "Art is Freedom, Freedom is Love and Cinema is Art. Every human being has à responsibility to stand for his or her freedom and for the freedom of other people,” we will continue to stand by our obligation, defending human rights and protecting spaces that allow for the expression of freedom and diversity, discussion and dialogue that will eventually pave the way for greater tolerance and mutual respect for all individuals and communities.  

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Due to Discriminatory Laws the Festival is Unable to Allow Persons Under 18 into the Screenings.