Queer Britain (UK) (Documentary)

I cant remember the last time I had so much fun watching a documentary. And the entire credit for this goes to the very charming, charismatic and extremely handsome Riyadh Khalaf. He is a famous YouTuber (I am embarrassed to say that I had never heard of him before) and the way he talks , interacts and interviews people is so normal everyday types and never once you feel he is putting up an act for camera and thats why he stays himself and the other characters stay true to their self.

Riyadh (Iraqi/Irish descent) addresses a lot of issues wrt LGBTQ+ community in this six-part BBC3 series. Riyadh address many subjects in these episodes, right from religion & sexuality, discrimination & body shaming, how every 1 out of 4 people that are homeless are from LGBTQ community, what ethnic racism is like in Britain, pornography and finally the queer in LGBTQ+. In every episode we meet a few main subjects and hear their stories of that topic that we are learning about. Most of these things are not new to me, given I am 'ethnic", not have the 6 pack body, immigrant etc, I was able to relate but even to me some of the things shown was shocking. I was surprised to hear that ration of LGBTQ folks in overall homeless folks and hearing some of the stories of people who were thrown off their homes was very disturbing.

This documentary is interesting because Riyadh also tries to find something personal in each of these 6 segments: right from shooting a porn film, to doing a nude photo shoot and talking to the people as if he has known them for ages. The easy charm and connect he makes with people is unmissable and thats what I believe makes people open up to him. As an audience we are in awe of his charisma and yet shocked, surprised and even horrified at some of the stories you get to hear. We think times have changed and things would be different for LGBTQ community in a first world country like UK, but we have miles to walk. Its almost impossible to imagine how hard the life is probably for other countries if this is what can still happen in Britain.

This is absolutely a must watch documentary, for more reasons that just one. (7/10)

Comments

The Shortest Distance is Round 3: Fallen Flowers

Continuing with the weird trilogy of "The Shortest Distance", I am so glad that finally I am done with part 3 and won't have to deal with this again in future. Thankfully, as of now the makers have not announced any further parts; which will save all of us on this earth from the embarrassment of watching this in near future. After the first 10 minutes are used in sort of recapping bits of first two parts, the story moves forward. Haruto is now starting to have feelings for Ruka, the mysterious pole dancer from second part. In a fit of rage, Ruka ends up killing the goat man and to save him and Haruto, Shibahara asks them to go underground. Meanwhile Shibahara continues the search for Seiya (the guy who had cut off Haruto's penis). It turns out Seiya is now also taking care of the original club owner from part 1. Both of them were released after they had informed Shibahara of Aoyama's secret location. Shibahara tortures Seiya's boyfriend leading to Seiya killin...

Sei no Gekiyaku (Japanese) [Dangerous Drugs of Sex]

Every person has their own unique way of dealing with loss. This film is as much a psychological thriller as it is a soft porn BDSM portrayal of two young men that makes the film overall horrifying as well as humane. It is really hard to describe the genre of this film in one word. Its important not that the film has some really disturbing scenes so if you go into seeing this film, please proceed with caution. Although any sexual non-consensual activity is not ok, this film has its won strange way of showing that suicide is not the only solution to all life's problems. Makoto is a regular office goer, who just finds out that his girlfriend is probably cheating on him. ON top of it, his parents sudden death coming back from a trip that he forced them to take, he gets completely dejected and decides to commit suicide. Unknown to him, he is saved by mysterious man Yoda Ryoji, and he wakes up finding himself tied up in leather and belts in a very BDSM setting. This mysterious saver soo...

One Summer Night (Korean)

I really wanted to like this film but for non native speakers, these movie leaves a lot to be understood and the way scenes were unfolding in front of me, I wasn't sure many times what was really going on. The story had potential button getting any back story on any of the characters limited my ability to empathize with any of these actors. Film starts with two North Korea military guys Yong Joon and Jae Sung having sex and they are caught red handed and they run. Three years later we see Yong Joon in Seoul leading a very mundane and poor life. He has a boyfriend Tae-Kyu, who is a weird guy. He is carefree, doesn't do any work and is completely emotional and financially dependent on Young Joon. In fact, even Yong Joon will go to any lengths to protect him , fend for him and taking care of him to the extent of even taking up prostitution. Suddenly one day Jae Sung appears in their life again. His motivation is not clear but it is obvious he wants Yong Joon back in his life, who ...

Movie Reviews -
Gay Themed

Search This Blog