'East/West - sex and politics' film review

At the moment here in Berlin the 58th Berlinale Film Festival is taking place. The other night my girlfriend and I dashed to Potsdamer Platz to see what film we could see. We bought tickets for the above mentioned film, without knowing what it was. This turned out to be a very good idea.

'East/West - sex and politics', a film by Jochen Hick, is about gay and lesbian communities in Moscow, and their struggle in a city where its mayor, Yuri Lushkov, views them as being 'satanic', and has banned their gay pride marches in Moscow in 2006 and 2007.

The film starts off with scenes from 2006, where an illegal march took place. This march was met by counter-demonstrators, including Neo-Nazis and members and Priests of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The film goes on to show the attempts to have a march in 2007 recognised by the Moscow state. People like Peter Tatchell, the German MP Volker Beck and other LGBT activists from across the world came to support them. First they convened in a city hall for a conference, in a hall surrounded by police to 'protect' those outside from those inside, before attempting to do a march outside.

The photos at the top of this page. The one on the bottom right shows Peter Tatchell, the British gay rights campaigner, just after he was punched by a counter-demonstrator. The police did nothing to pursue his attacker, rather, they arrested Tatchell himself, as well as the gay pride organiser Nikolai Alexeyev. Click on 'East/West - sex and politics' film review' above to see a film clip of the march.

The film goes on to show gay and lesbian life in Moscow, showing that many small communities live. These communities are very vital, however. One woman who was at the march was seen on TV and was sacked from her job the next day.

As it is, the gays and lesbians in Moscow do have their own scene, and bars and clubs to go to. Moscow is the city in Russia where they go to, apart from St. Petersburg. Homosexuality is a hidden issue in Russia and the film shows many people who moved to Moscow to be more open about their sexuality. For men from places like Armenia, Moscow gives them a chance to meet other gay men. As it is, men and women from the Caucus region face a stigmitisation anyway.

The film also shows well the debates between the homosexual communities. Some are against the gay pride marches, seeing them as being antagonistic to the Muscovite society and doing more harm than good. A gay man is quoted as saying that Russians are, by nature, people who are more tolerant and open behind closed doors.

This is something similar to what I heard in another film, 'Rainbow's End' where anti-gays in Kraków, Poland were saying that they don't mind what people do behind closed doors, it's the openness that they hate. I know from here in Berlin that the Westberlin Aktiongruppe decided, after 1969, that gays and lesbians should be able to have a free life, not hidden behind closed doors. Whether this is applicable in Moscow is a debated point.

As it is, I very much recommend this film. It shows the extreme pressure that gays and lesbians suffer in Moscow, but also shows their willingness to fight, together with support from people from other countries.

I cannot pass without commenting on the Russian Orthodox Church. There were extremely shameful scenes, where those who were physically attacking those on the gay pride were being blessed by a Priest who attended the protest. Indeed, this same Priest stirred up the crowd with the chant 'Moscow is no Sodom', which shows his lack of knowledge of what Sodom means. I am not being a liberal Christian in saying that, I am being biblical: 'Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: pride, fullness of bread, and careless ease was in her and in her daughters; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.' Ezekiel 16:49!

So maybe Moscow is Sodom then. Now, I have a lot of respect for the Russian Orthodox Church, I attend their services in Berlin and have used their prayers for years. However, their treatment of homosexuals is an abomination. When Christians are allied with Neo-Nazis, then it is deffo not the case that ubi caritas et amor, deus ibi est (where there is love and charity God is present).

There was however an exception in the film. An Orthodox Priest took it upon himself to do a ministry to the gay and lesbian communities. He said that it is a shame that no-one ministers to them, rather, they exclude them. He visits their homes and listens to them, and prays with them. He criticised the Russian Orthodox Church by saying that it has got too involved with politics. He said that they seek power, which is against the Christian gospel.

He is a holy man. As is Peter Tatchell. He is somewhat infamous in Anglican circles for his demonstrations in Anglican services, but as far as I am concerned, the man is a Saint, due to his striving for justice and willingness to suffer violence for that cause.

I found the film very upsetting and also very moving. You may wonder what my own personal connection to homosexuals is? Well I have no real reason, really. I simply see that they suffer a lot of persecution, and, shamefully enough, from my own (Anglican) Church. I see that they suffered during the Nazi times, and were a forgotten group afterwards. Therefore I do the tours in the gay museum in Berlin:

http://walksthroughberlin.blogspot.com/2008_02_05_archive.html

and am about to do tours in other areas that remember the forgotten victims of Nazi persecution, which is another reason why I started this website.

Please, recommend this film to your friends. See it at Berlinale if you live in Berlin. Tell others about it.

Oh, and, Nikolai, if you are reading this, I was the man who asked the last question after the film, about homosexuals in other places in Russia. :)