24 May 2020, 11:14
HBO announces premiere of film about persecution of LGBT people in Chechnya
After the premiere in the USA of the documentary "Welcome to Chechnya", telling about persecutions for sexual orientation, it will be screened in Russia, says Askold Kurov, a cameraman.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the human rights organization "Amnesty International" (AI) collected more than 275,000 signatures to the appeal to Russian authorities demanding to intervene in the situation with the prosecution of LGBT people in Chechnya.
The HBO (Home Box Office), an American TV network, has filmed the documentary "Welcome to Chechnya" about the LGBT activists working under cover to help Chechen residents to avoid persecutions for their sexual orientation, receive visas and asylum.
According to the Russian LGBT Network, since April 2017, about 150 persons of non-traditional sexual orientation have been evacuated from Chechnya; over 130 of them have left Russia.
"The main film heroes are real homosexuals, who become victims of the 'witch hunt' in Chechnya. Most of them spoke anonymously," The "Dozhd" (Rain) TV Channel reports.
The film was shot by David France, a famous American documentary filmmaker. The filming in Chechnya was made to a hidden camera.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 23, 2020 at 03:58 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.