Building on the success of Five Films for Freedom, the annual digital programme run by the British Council and the British Film Institute (BFI), More Films for Freedom brings you three new commissioned short films exploring LGBTIQ+ stories. The films were made by British, Syrian, Palestinian and South African filmmakers.
It might be harder to celebrate #Pride together this year, but you can celebrate LGBTIQ+ culture at home by watching one film each month in solidarity with LGBTIQ+ communities in places where freedom and equal rights are limited.
The three films have been commissioned by the British Council, BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival and BFI NETWORK.
NOWHERE (streaming 15 June–14 July)
Director: Christopher Manning
Productor: Gary Paton
Co-Productors: Laura Samara Hawa and Baher Agbariya
Country: UK with Pallestinian collaboration
Year 2020/ Running time 20 minutes
A young Palestinian woman crosses the Israeli border illegally to find her long-lost brother, who she hopes will be her ticket to a new life far from the West Bank. When she discovers the truth behind his exiled existence, her dreams of a happy reunion are shattered, and she must face her next steps alone.
THE MEN WHO SPEAK GAYLE (streaming 15 July– 4 August)
Director: Andrew Brukman
Writer: Nathan Kennedy
Producers: Thembisa Cochrane and Georgie Paget
Country: UK with South African collaboration
Year 2020 / Running time 10 minutes
Young drag performer Nathan is one of the last people to speak Gayle – a secret language the gay community were forced to invent during Apartheid. He finds out about Louis, an original Gayle speaker living in a conservative desert town in South Africa and wants to put on a performance with him. But these men, two generations apart and from different cultural and racial backgrounds have never met - and have no idea how the town will react.
LET MY BODY SPEAK (streaming 15 August–14 September)
Director: Madonna Adib
Producer Noe Mendelle
Country: UK with Syrian collaboratio
Year 2020 / Running time 10 minutes
Our bodies store memories. The body does not forget. A childhood in Damascus, OCD, the revolution, falling in love with a woman. My body remembers.