Dangerous Living: Coming Out in the Developing World
Narrated by Janeane Garofalo
A documentary by John Scagliotti, Dan Hunt, Janet Baus and Reid Williams.
http://www.afterstonewall.com/Dangerous Living examines the struggles and triumphs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the Global South.
On May 11th, 2001, 52 men in Cairo were arrested, tortured and imprisoned for simply gathering at a discothèque on the river Nile. There is no law against homosexuality in Egypt so the Egyptian Government officially accused the men of committing crimes of debauchery. The 52 were later tried, convicted, and sentenced to 3 years in prison. Ashraf Zanati, one of the "Cairo 52", shared his story with us just before fleeing to Vancouver, Canada:
"My sexuality is my own sexuality. It doesn't belong to anybody. Not to my government, not to my brother, my sister, my family. No one."
While the "Cairo 52" story is the centerpiece of this documentary, it is just one of many examples of glbt oppression outside of the western world that this film explores. Dangerous Living, directed by John Scagliotti and produced by Dan Hunt and Janet Baus, is the first documentary to deeply explore the lives of GLBT people in non-western cultures. The crew of Dangerous Living traveled to five continents to tell the heartbreaking and triumphant stories of these incredible individuals on film.
The issues surrounding the GLBT population in Egypt garnered some western press attention. However, most occurrences of oppression around the world receive no media coverage at all. In Honduras, Dilcia Molina, who had the courage to participate in her city's pride march without her face covered, had her family attacked by military police:
"One of the men grabbed my son and cut his face with a knife. Those men were looking for me. They were going to rape me to take the lesbian out of me."
Rodney Lutalo, a gay activist in Kenya, was imprisoned and beaten for his efforts in diversity education. He was one of the lucky individuals who was able to get out of his country and secure asylum in the west:
"We can only go through this world by educating, not by hating. The best will of revenge is forgiveness. For those who hated me, I forgive them."
Unfortunately, most experiences from the developing world are stories of oppression. However, in Thailand, a transgendered kick boxer named Parinya Jaroenphoen, was accepted for her lifestyle. She remains a celebrated hero in the Thai kickboxing world. The film reaches a pinnacle at the Sydney Gay Games of 2002 where thousands of GLBT people from all over the globe came together for human rights conferences and sport.
By sharing the personal stories coming out of developing nations, Dangerous Living sheds light on an emerging global movement striving to end the atrocities against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
Janet Baus is a producer and editor for PBS, cable television, and independent productions. Most recently she was co-editor of the Lifetime documentary, 'Our Heroes, Ourselves' to be aired this May. She is currently in production on an independent documentary about lesbian collectives in the early 1970s, 'The Furies'.
Dan Hunt has been creating award-winning programming for Public Television since the late 1980s. As Producer, he just completed 'Oliver Button is a STAR', a documentary about bullying and gender, which aired nationally on PBS in June 2002. 'Oliver Button' won the Angel Award given by Excellence in Media, National Assoc. of Multicultural Education's Video Award and is screening at film festivals in the US and abroad.
John Scagliotti, the award-winning filmmaker and radio broadcaster, was the Creator and Executive Producer of In the Life. In the Life, the first gay and lesbian national series on PBS, began in 1991 with only six stations; today it is carried by more than one hundred, including the top twenty-five markets in the nation. In 1985 Scagliotti produced the documentary 'Before Stonewall -- the making of the gay and lesbian community.' It received two Emmy Awards after it's national broadcast on PBS.
In 1999 Baus, Hunt and Scagliotti released the sequel to 'Before Stonewall.' 'After Stonewall' was broadcast nationally during primetime on PBS June 23, 1999. The film won a Golden Eagle and the Audience Award at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and has been screened at more than 40 festivals around the world.
Major Funding for Dangerous Living was provided by the H. van Ameringen Foundation, the Ted Snowdon Foundation, Andrew Tobias and Charles Nolan, Ric Weiland, Steven Fox, the Overbrook Foundation and the Small Change Foundation
