Sheffield Doc/Fest 2012 Plans Queer Culture Premieres

21 May 2012: Sheffield Doc/Fest 2012 film programme includes three feature films about queer culture, including one European premiere, along with a number of shorts. Many films will be followed by a question and answer session by the filmmaker.

Sheffield Doc/Fest is the UK’s premiere documentary and digital media festival. It is the place to see world and UK premieres of the best creative documentaries from the cinema, television and online arenas, and to hear from and meet filmmakers at Q&A sessions. Highlights of the film programme are honoured with an award programme including the Sheffield Special Jury, Innovation, Green, Youth Jury, Inspiration, Student Doc and Audience Awards. The year’s fest runs June 13th-17th.

Here are the Queer Culture flicks showing at the festival:

HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE (EUROPEAN PREMIERE)
Dir. David France/USA 2012 / 110 mins
By the mid 1980s, Greenwich Village’s once thriving gay community was faced with an appalling scenario: astonishing numbers of people were dying by AIDs, and there was no cure in sight. Not only were hospitals turning away AIDs victims, but the community was subject to a brutal backlash of homophobia, with the corpses of AIDs victims even rejected by funeral parlours. Driven by desperation, the gay community were forced to become change-making activists – a role in which they soon found they excelled. Frustrated by a drug testing protocol that had not prioritised AIDs research – and in which new drugs took up to a decade of testing before approval – the community mobilised through very public demonstrations, and by equipping themselves with the scientific knowledge to spearhead a completely new strategy towards drug development. We follow the story of a number of prominent activists as they battle against the clock in a race for their lives.

More info: http://www.howtosurviveaplague.com/
It is hoped that director David France will be attending the festival.

CALL ME KUCHU (Special Jury/UK PREMIERE)
Dir. Malika Zouhali-Worrall, Katherine Fairfax Wright/ USA 2012/ 87 mins
It opens with a seemingly harmless gathering, celebrating a same sex relationship. It soon becomes clear, however, that everyone in attendance is risking their lives. This is Uganda, where not only is homosexuality outlawed, but a witchhunt is on to out the “Kuchu”. American Christian evangelicals have dubbed Uganda “Ground Zero” – a testing ground for new, tougher anti-homosexuality legislation, proposing the death penalty for HIV positive men, and imprisonment for anyone not reporting Kuchu to the authorities. The young editor of the crusading local newspaper delightedly shares his persecution strategies, noting with pride that he’ll tell his grandchildren about his role in implementing the “kill the gays” bill. The country’s first openly gay man, David Kato, is leading a small band of activists in fighting for their right to exist –amongst a public baying for blood. An alarming, astonishing film, with access to those on both sides of the trenches.

Director Malika Zouhali-Worrall will be attending the festival.

LOVE FREE OR DIE (Youth Jury)
Dir. Macky Alston/ USA 2011/ 82 mins
When he was consecrated in 2003 wearing a bulletproof vest, Gene Robinson became the Anglican Church’s first openly gay bishop. It’s a job he didn’t seek, but one he now relishes. Robinson has spent the last decade preaching for inclusion –while being shunned by many of his fellow clergy. At the Lambeth conference, a major Anglican gathering, all 800 bishops are invited – except Robinson, whose face is pinned up the security office so they know who to kick out. Supported by his long-term partner Mark and loving daughters, Robinson is determined to charm whomever he is given access to – including Barack Obama, who selected him to open his inaugural events. Director Macky Alston uses Robinson’s story to explore the schism that continues to bitterly divide a church determinedly behind the times. Attracting both hecklers and autograph seekers alike, Robinson’s message is a simple one: it is time to recognise that homosexuality and faith are not incompatible.