Hunted: The War Against Gays in Russia

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Hunted: The War Against Gays in Russia (originally released by BBC Worldwide [1] and Channel 4 in the United Kingdom [2] [3] under the title Cold Fear: Gay Life In Russia) is a 2014 HBO documentary film by Ben Steele on anti-gay violence in Russia. It is narrated by Matt Bomer. [4]

The documentary film was originally shown in the United Kingdom at the time of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. [5] In the lead-up to the Games, many Western nations criticised Russia's stance on LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) rights, in particular the anti-"gay propaganda" law which passed in June 2013, with some calling for a boycott of the Olympic Games. [6] At this time, violent attacks on gay men by extremist groups such as Occupy Pedophilia, which was profiled in Steele's documentary, reached their height. [7] [2] [3] These abuses included online humiliation and beatings on camera (sometimes to the point of unconsciousness), with these videos being uploaded online in order to humiliate the victim. [3] [5] [8] Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a United States government-funded media organisation, noted that "the brutality of these videos played a significant role in galvanizing broad international support for Russia's beleaguered LGBT community". [9]

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References

  1. ↑ Steele, Ben (director) (2014). Cold Fear: Gay Life In Russia. BBC Worldwide. ProQuest   1841415496.
  2. 1 2 Franchetti, Mark (15 September 2013). "Vigilantes torture Russia's gay men". The Sunday Times . Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 Gallagher, Paul; Thorpe, Vanessa (1 February 2014). "Russian anti-gay gang violence seen for the first time on camera". The Observer . Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  4. ↑ Lowry, Brian (3 October 2014). "TV Review: 'Hunted: The War Against Gays In Russia'". Variety . Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  5. 1 2 Teeman, Tim (6 October 2014). "The 'Hunted' Gays of Putin's Russia: Vicious Vigilantes and State Bigotry Close Up". The Daily Beast . Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  6. ↑ Lally, Kathy (29 September 2013). "Russia anti-gay law casts a shadow over Sochi's 2014 Olympics". The Washington Post . Sochi, Russia. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  7. ↑ Habeck, Joachim Otto; Schröder, Philipp (December 2016). "From Siberia with Love or Angst in the City? On the Idea of Merging Research Projects in Novosibirsk and Co-Teaching in Hamburg and Berlin". Ethnoscripts . 18 (1): 11–12.
  8. ↑ Abramovitch, Seth (2 October 2014). "Gays as Human Prey: The Terrifying Truths of 'Hunted: The War on Gays in Russia'". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  9. ↑ Schreck, Carl (7 October 2014). "A Filmmaker's Chilling View Of Russia's Antigay 'Vigilantes'". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty . Retrieved 9 July 2023.


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