When representatives from United Nations approached Film Independent looking for documentary films representing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex perspectives for their Free and Equal Global Campaign, the decision to help wasn’t a difficult one.

Film Independent President Josh Welsh saw the program’s mission as a natural extension of the organization’s goals. “Filmmakers have the rare gift of humanizing the marginalized and disenfranchised for mainstream audiences,” said Welsh, “And with that the ability to change attitudes and improve lives.”

The five films selected for the series will be available free of charge to UN offices in countries across the world for public screenings. The aim of these screenings will be to stimulate discussion and raise awareness of homophobic and transphobic discrimination and violence.

The films selected for the series are Call Me Kuchu, Out in the Night, Intersexion, Quebranto and The Welcome.

Call Me Kuchu was selected for Film Independent’s inaugural Documentary Lab. The film follows David Kato, Uganda’s first openly gay man, as he fights a bill in his country that would make homosexuality punishable by death. Directors Katherine Fairfax Wright & Malika Zouhali-Worrall also received the Roger & Chaz Ebert Fellowship for the film.

Out in the Night tells the story of four young lesbian and gender non-conforming African-American women who are labeled a “Gang of Killer Lesbians” after defending themselves against violence in New York’s West Village. Director blair dorosh-walther was a Film Independent Fast Track Fellow and the film premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival in 2014.

Intersexion interviews people from America, Ireland, Germany, South Africa, and Australia about what it means to be intersex in a largely binary, male-female world.

Quebranto tells of the struggles of 70-year-old Mexican actress Dona Lila Ortega and her daughter, Coral Bonelli, who began her career as a male child actor.

The Welcome (which can be seen here in its entirety) is a short Bollywood music video about a young Indian man who brings his boyfriend home to meet his traditional parents.

For information about how to host a screening, visit https://www.unfe.org/en/global-film-series.

Tom Sveen / Film Independent Blogger