18/06/2022
CEECA LGBTQIA+ PRIDE Festival [.lgbtqia.pridefestival ],are excited to announce an exclusive screening of the film “Silent Voice” []followed by a Q&A with the director Reka Valerik,Tuesday, June 21 at 7:00 pm at the iconic Angelika Film Center []
Heartbreaking and incredibly human, his picture tells the story of a young Chechen fighter Khavaj, showing great promise in mixed martial arts MMA until his brother finds out about his homosexuality. Realizing that he would be killed, Khavaj was forced to flee his motherland, a traumatic experience that left him unable to speak. This documentary is about the first months of a young man's stay in another country when yesterday's life is already in the past, and the new one has not yet come.
Following the bloody purge of LGBTQ+ individuals by prorussian R. Kadyrov’s regime, the conversation about the treatment of q***r people in Chechnya has entered the global mainstream. In the years since 2017, it has become the subject of documentaries and international political discourse. However, “Silent Voice” is the first film that centers on the authentic point of view of somebody who is actually a q***r Chechen immigrant. This is an incredibly important and necessary movie about the broken lives of minorities inflicted by political repression and lack of freedom, especially in places like Chechnya, which has been occupied by Russia after fighting two brutal wars. “I dedicated the film to all those mothers who lost their sons and daughters, who don’t know where their children are,”- Valerik.
The running time is 51 min, with the film containing English, Chechen,French,Russian languages. The event will be hosted by movie critic & musician Matvey Cherry [],and besides R.Valerik, the Q&A will also feature M.Chemodanov [ ], a former editor of the largest Russian film database “Kinopoisk”&the father of the popular LGBTQ+party”Cherti”, and Anna Panova [.pianos]NYC-based director,the founder of “Shortie Film Festival” [ ]
This event is organized by the collective CEECA LGBTQIA+[.lgbtqia]in partnership with .lgbt