Press Release
Council of Europe Office in Georgia
26, Kakabadzeebi Brothers street, 0108 Tbilisi, Georgia
Tel.: +995 32 291 38 70 / 71 / 72 / 73
Fax: +995 32 291 38 74
E-mail: informtbilisi@coe.int
www.coe.ge
Come to watch the movie Parada at the Tbilisi International Film Festival. Parada will be screened in the original Serbian, and with Georgian and English subtitles, at 5pm on Saturday 8 December at Rustaveli Cinema. A Q&A session with the director and the producer of the film will follow. The screening, and the director's presence at this year's festival, are financed by the Council of Europe's LGBT Project.
Parada won the 'Panorama Audience Award for Best Feature' at the 2012 Berlinale. The film deals with the rights of homosexuals in Serbia and tells the story of a Gay Pride event in Belgrade.
'Radmilo (35) and Mirko (30) are a young and successful gay couple. They try to live discreetly but still, every day, they are abused by the homophobic majority. Mirko is a gay rights activist, and his dream is to organise the first successful PRIDE event in Belgrade. This is almost a “mission impossible” − a 2001 attempt to hold PRIDE in Belgrade ended in bloodshed. One decade later the situation is not much better − nationalist and neo-Nazi organisations prepare another massacre in case the gay parade is held, while the police refuse to provide protection for the participants. A strange couple arrives in Radmilo’s and Mirko’s lives − Lemon (45), a homophobic ex-criminal and war veteran, the owner of a small security company, and his fiancée Pearl (30), the owner of a beauty parlour. By an odd turn of events, Lemon finds himself standing up for gay freedom in his country.'
About the
Director, Srđan Dragojević
Born in Yugoslavia in 1963,
Srđan Dragojević
first trained as a clinical psychologist before
taking up film studies at Belgrade University. He made his debut in 1992 with
the comedy "We Are Not Angels" and was a published poet before deciding to
devote his energies to film in 1996. His film Parada won 3 prizes at the
2012 Berlin International Film Festival, including the Panorama Audience Award
for Best Feature.
About the Council of Europe's LGBT Project
The overall, long-term goal of the Council of Europe LGBT project is to contribute to the improvement of the quality of life among LGBT people in Europe. The project supports governments in partner member states in their efforts to develop a forceful, cross-sectoral LGBT policy, strengthening human rights for LGBT people, and supporting the national fight against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
About Eurimages
Parada received financial support from Eurimages, the Council of Europe's fund for the co-production and distribution of European cinematographic works. Several of the films presented at this year's Tbilisi International Film Festival received Eurimages support. Georgia joined Eurimages in 2011 and Georgian films are already starting to benefit from Georgia's membership in this fund.
A
political organisation set up in 1949, the Council of Europe works to promote
democracy and human rights continent-wide. It also develops common responses to
social, cultural and legal challenges in its 47 member states.
Council of Europe Office in Georgia