April 3, 2014
LGBT Film Fest Flash Screening: Michael Lucas New Doc Set for Tuesday
EDGE READ TIME: 2 MIN.
The Boston LGBT Film Festival is presenting a special screening of Campaign of Hate: Russia and Gay Propaganda, the timely documentary from Michael Lucas, on Tuesday, April 8, 2014, 8 p.m., at the Brattle Theatre in Harvard Square, Cambridge.
The documentary has a personal connection for Lucas, the entrepreneur who has made Lucas Entertainment into one of the leading adult male film companies in the world. Born and raised in Moscow, he experienced first-hand the anti-gay sentiments long part of Russian culture before he left for the West in 1995.
In 1997, he settled in New York and began working in the adult film industry, creating Lucas Entertainment in the process. In addition to heading Lucas Entertainment, Michael Lucas is a political activist and columnist, whose views have made him a controversial figure on the LGBT media landscape.
Months before the Russian government passed a decree outlawing homosexual propaganda. Lucas became aware of the rising tide of homophobia in Russia and traveled there with a film team to get a first-hand account of the human rights crisis happening in the shadow of the Sochi Olympics.
In the film he interviews LGBT Russians about their marginalization by the government. They candidly express their fears and hopes in lieu of the extraordinary climate of hate that is being sanctioned by government officials.
In addition, he interviews St. Petersburg legislator Vitaly Milonov, one of the architects of "Gay Propaganda" law, the bill passed in the Russian parliament in June that was signed and endorsed by Vladimir Putin.
The law received some media attention prior to the recent Sochi Olympic games, with promises by Russian leaders that it would not be enforced prior to and during the games. The fear by many LGBT Russians is now that the spotlight is off Russia, the law will be more actively enforced.
"After the Olympics, I believe there will be a major crackdown on gay people from the authorities and from the Russian mob. That is why it is so important to tell Russia's LGBT story now." Lucas said in a recent interview.
The screening of "Campaign of Hate: Russia and Gay Propaganda" replaces the previously announced "Land of Storms."
"Due to circumstances beyond our control we will no longer present a screening of 'Land Of Storms.' Luckily-we have an incredible and timely documentary by filmmaker Michael Lucas," said Franc Castro, Director of Corporate Relations of the 2014 Boston LGBT Film Festival.
