‘Spectrum 14’ Opens with “SASOD is 15!” Short Film
This year, the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination’s (SASOD Guyana) film festival, “Painting the Spectrum”, has reached its 14th edition! Featuring over 40 films from all over the world, the festival takes place every Tuesday and Thursday of the month of September from 18:00 hours at SASOD’s office, located at 203 Duncan Street, Lamaha Gardens, Georgetown. The Festival not only portrays a diversity of experiences from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities, but also features different genres of films, from comedies to experimental shorts, drama and completely-new documentaries.
The first week’s theme “What is Gender, Anyway?” focuses on gender norms, expectations and persons of transgender experience, answering commonly asked questions and creating space for positive discussion and analyses. The festival officially opens on Tuesday, September 4, with the screening of a short documentary titled “SASOD is 15!” and a panel discussion featuring diverse stakeholders who will reflect on SASOD’s journey as a Guyanese movement.
Following the panel, on Tuesday, the feature film “Bixa Travesty” will open the festival. “Bixa Travesty” is a documentary that follows Mc Linn Da Quebrada, a black trans woman, performer and activist living in impoverished São Paulo. Her electrifying performances brazenly take on Brazil's machismo. The film is one of the most acclaimed recent LGBT movies and was presented at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2018. It also won the Best Documentary award at the Milan International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival and the Special Jury Award at the Toronto Inside Out Film Festival.
On Thursday, September 6, the festival continues with a screening of ten shorts on themes such as being non-binary (not conforming to being either being male or female), and the rejection transgender people sometimes face from their families and friends. These shorts come from ten different countries around the world, including Spain, Iran, India, the Netherlands and Brazil.
“Painting the Spectrum 14” will continue every Tuesday and Thursday of September, with themes such as: “Love, Sex and Everything in Between”, “Our Rights, Our Culture, Our History” and “Let’s Experiment.” For the full programme and more information on the screenings, visit the festival’s website: https://spectrumguyana.
Admission to the film festival is free. The films are intended for mature audiences. Persons must be eighteen years and over to attend. SASOD reserves the right to refuse admission to persons who do not have identification to prove that they are not minors.
Admission to the film festival is free. The films are intended for mature audiences. Persons must be eighteen years and over to attend. SASOD reserves the right to refuse admission to persons who do not have identification to prove that they are not minors.
The film festival aims to both offer a safe space for the LGBTQ+ Guyanese to interact and communicate, and to educate the general public by presenting queer-themed films, which are almost never screened in mainstream cinemas in Guyana.
The Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) is an international award-winning, 15-year old, human rights movement and organization, leading change, educating and serving communities, to end discrimination based on sexuality and gender in Guyana.
Feature Documentary for the Opening Night of "Painting the Spectrum 14", "SASOD is 15!"
Feature Film for the Opening Night of “Painting the Spectrum 14", "Bixa Travesty"
