Second Side by Side LGBT International Film Festival Announces 2009 Winners

On 31st October Side by Side LGBT International Film Festival announced the winners for 2009. The winners for the following categories are:

• Best Social Film: Freeheld, Cynthia Wade, USA 2007
• Best Enlightening Film: I am Gay, Nicolas Kolovos, Sweden, 2008
• Best Film Representing Human Value: Georgie Girl, Annie Goldson and Peter Wells, New Zealand, 2001
• Audience Award: Madchen in Uniform, Leontine Sagan, Germany, 1931.

The jury for this years second Side by Side film festival included  Professor Igor Kon (sociologist and sexologist), Tamara Larina (art director of the international short film festival OPEN CINEMA), Nina Tagankina (executive director of the human rights organization, Moscow Helsinki Group, Mahide Lein (director of AHOI Events, Berlin) and Sergey Baidak (director of INOEKINO).

In the region of two thousand people attended this years festival. “It was an outstanding achievement and an unprecedented event in Russian history. A fifth of the festival attendees were non-LGBT people. A clear indication that Side by Side is able to stimulate dialogue and raise important LGBT issues with society at large.”

The festival, despite press censorship, managed to gather a full house. “We are already working on the third festival and we will continue to battle against press censorship,” commented festival founder Manny de Guerre. 

In the coming year Side by Side will be expanding its work. In addition to the annual autumn festival, there will be two-day events in Saint Petersburg. In 2010 scope of activities will move beyond the confines of the Russian North West and into other regions across the Federation.