Michael Lucas and Scott Stern have done a great service to the LGBT international community with this film. I am delighted to have seen it on Netflix. I hope this will broaden its distribution.
Aside from opening Western minds to the issues in Russia, the film also reminds those in gay-friendlier societies that their job is not done to secure the rights of all LGBT people. The participants in this documentary, including Lucas who interviewed a clearly unhinged Russian parliamentarian, are heroic. I am not overstating.
An American or European may not understand this. We are horrified in the U.S. now by high school bullying or the occasional sex murder of a gay adult. As a 66 year-old (Russian-American) gay man, I once lived under the kind of society which now prevails in Russian cities. Police harassment, public attacks, media propaganda against gays and lesbians were all a mainstay of my early years right here in Boston.
The style of the documentary reminds me of early LGBT films here in the U.S. during the 1970's. I found it equally compelling, but I think this young ADD-prone generation is likely to find the deliberate pace difficult. That is not a criticism of the film but an assessment of the potential audience. And that in itself is troubling.
Finally, I have to commend Michael Lucas, a gay man and a Russian, who has most likely made a very good living in the gay adult video business here in the U.S and abroad. Few people in the arts make such a personal contribution back to their communities. Even fewer would take the risks inherent in this projects. Bravo, Michael Lucas.
Aside from opening Western minds to the issues in Russia, the film also reminds those in gay-friendlier societies that their job is not done to secure the rights of all LGBT people. The participants in this documentary, including Lucas who interviewed a clearly unhinged Russian parliamentarian, are heroic. I am not overstating.
An American or European may not understand this. We are horrified in the U.S. now by high school bullying or the occasional sex murder of a gay adult. As a 66 year-old (Russian-American) gay man, I once lived under the kind of society which now prevails in Russian cities. Police harassment, public attacks, media propaganda against gays and lesbians were all a mainstay of my early years right here in Boston.
The style of the documentary reminds me of early LGBT films here in the U.S. during the 1970's. I found it equally compelling, but I think this young ADD-prone generation is likely to find the deliberate pace difficult. That is not a criticism of the film but an assessment of the potential audience. And that in itself is troubling.
Finally, I have to commend Michael Lucas, a gay man and a Russian, who has most likely made a very good living in the gay adult video business here in the U.S and abroad. Few people in the arts make such a personal contribution back to their communities. Even fewer would take the risks inherent in this projects. Bravo, Michael Lucas.
