Award-winning Filmmaker and Actor GERALD MCCULLOUCH (*Daddy”, the “All Male, All Nude” films) traveled to Greece, excited to celebrate his latest film screening at an Athens film festival, eager to enjoy the warm sea and legendary monuments drenched in sunshine.
What he found was a very different experience of Greece, one where LGBTQ refugees live on the edge of shadows to survive.
As he began meeting people who’d escaped terror in their home country, only to face it again, he couldn’t turn and abandon them, as so many organizations and people in power have. Pretending they were isolated incidents in a global tragedy of botched immigrations was not an option. Compelled by humanity, Gerald picked up his iPhone and began capturing their stories and embarked on a 6 year journey.
“Over the past six years, my times in Athens and then Stockholm and Berlin brought me into a world I initially knew nothing about.
Once I learned of this situation, I knew I had to do what I could to give voice to these stories in hopes of creating change and awareness.”
ROSITTA Escaped from Lebanon after being beaten with a bat by her brothers until she was unconscous because she is transgender.
HUSSEIN Became Rositta’s boyfriend along his journey to escape persistent torture because of his sexual orientation
HOSSAM After abuse and death threats from his father and brothers, Hossam fled the middle east and his family’s attempted honor killing of him due to his sexual orientation.
MARY and LILY Fell in love in Syria and were smuggled out of the country so they could be together and avoid forced marriages, withstanding rape and murder threats.
SUMA Fled Egypt and a thriving career in IT after being thrown in jail for being transgender where the police broke her arm in three places as she watched them kill her best friend.
TAMAMM Lives in a refugee camp with his two brothers, mother and father in two tents. He Interprets for LGBT refugees and NGO’s attempting to assist the refugees in their struggles for asylum.
LAWRENCE Fleeing persecution for his sexual orientation, establishes an NGO with Hossam to support other LGBTQI refugees in Athens.
ZANIAR Lives in a refugee camp outside of Athens where he has to hide his sexual orientation to keep safe in the camp where fellow refugees rape, kill and harass LGBT refugees.
IMAN After countless incidents of rape and torture Iman fled Egypt as Ayman, a male dancer. Upon arrival in the US and finding safety for the first time in her life, she transitioned as a life long dream and to finally rid herself of the years of sexual abuse as a gay male.
HAYYAN One of the lucky few who fled Syria and then Jordan and won asylum in the US, he looks back on the years of terror growing up gay in the middle east.
“Being outed in a camp is even more difficult than swimming across the Aegean.”
Gregory Vallianatos
Gay rights advocate and political figure
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