In the small town of Rheims, France, three skinheads were looking for an Arab to bash. Instead, on a September night in 2002, Francois Chenu had the misfortune to cross their paths. Because Chenu refused to deny the fact that he was gay, the three men beat him, threw him in a pond, and left him for dead. The story of his family, their grieving process, and their quest for justice is the subject of Olivier Meyrou’s documentary, Beyond Hatred.
QueerSpace, a Belfast-based organization serving and advocating for the needs of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Community of Belfast and Northern Ireland, has worked in conjunction with the festival to present the film. While the festival has included a wide array of programming around same sex themes, Beyond Hatred stands out for its poignancy and topicality for a society recently bestowed with the dubious moniker of “the most bigoted place in Western world.” Beyond Hatred is playing at Studio Cinema on Wednesday at 8:30 PM followed by a discussion with our very own Dr. Gareth Higgins.
Also on Wednesday…
The Black Box might do weird better (or at least classier) than anywhere else in Belfast. While I’m not exactly sure what a double bill of a Turkish remake of the Wizard of Oz and a 1960s Japanese children’s television show re-scored with live electronica would look/sound/feel like, I’m sure it wouldn’t fail to be an interesting and maybe even unique experience. Check out Turkish Wizard of Oz/Gimme Gimme Octopus at the Black Box at 8 PM.
If you’ve always felt there weren’t enough documentaries on the protracted conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the contested region of Nagorno-Karabakh, watch A Story of People in War and Peace fill that niche at QFT at 9:10 PM.
(Photo taken by Jett of woman sitting alone at the Queens Film Theatre)
That Turkish Wizard of Oz is going to give me horrible nightmares.
Posted by: Phil | March 27, 2007 at 10:08 AM
That 'Turkish Wizard of Oz' rocks! For those of you not familiar with the form, the Turkish film industry has a grand tradition of 'appropriating' from Hollywood's hits: not to be missed if you get the chance: The Turkish Star Wars, The Turkish Superman, The Turkish Star Trek, et al.
Posted by: Jett Loe | March 27, 2007 at 12:17 PM
Turkish Star Wars was fantastic. I felt much more at ease watching this, and loved the special effects!
Posted by: Phil | March 27, 2007 at 03:22 PM
hi mr jett. i'm the guy who talked/mumbled to you after you were taking these photos. sorry i've taken so long to visit this site, and you were right, it is a good show (i thought you were just a stereotypical american self-promoter, and maybe you are?, but you were surprisingly correct.) Anyway, it is very strange to see photos of people you know (the 'woman' is one of my fellow drama students!) in other people's photos, plus i think that's my bag at her feet (if any US ad company want to do a 'goth girl' thing with my bag just let me know!). good luck and i promise i'll listen next week.
Posted by: pass | March 27, 2007 at 05:56 PM
Thanks for tuning in 'pass' - we're a big tent here at LTA and always happy to welcome newcomers!
Posted by: Jett Loe | March 27, 2007 at 07:43 PM
hi again, yeah it seems i messed up my name there with 'pass', which i actually sort of like, in an accident way. anyway if i post again it'll be with 'patric' or maybe 'pass' for fun.
Posted by: pass | April 02, 2007 at 04:27 PM
Hey, 'pass' works - one syllable - easy to remember.
Posted by: Jett Loe | April 02, 2007 at 11:59 PM