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Welcome to Chechnya: The Gay Purge

A Storyville documentary that lays bare Chechnya's deadly war against its gay citizens and reveals the bravery of those running rescue missions to protect the republic's LGBTQ community.

Welcome to Chechnya: The Gay Purge lays bare the Russian Federation republic's deadly war against its gay citizens. Countless victims have been killed and hundreds more are missing. With the LGBTQ community living in fear and secrecy, this brave and searing film follows the underground team fighting to rescue them before it is too late.

Since 2017, Chechnya鈥檚 tyrannical leader Ramzan Kadyrov has waged a depraved operation to 鈥榗leanse the blood鈥� of LGBTQ Chechens, overseeing a government-directed campaign to detain, torture and execute them. With no help from the Kremlin, and only faint global condemnation, activists have taken matters into their own hands. From a safe house in a secret location in Russia, they risk their own lives by running rescue missions into Chechnya and providing temporary shelter.

This film follows the extraordinary bravery of the activists and Chechens whose lives are being threatened. Deploying a groundbreaking, new digital 鈥榝ace-double鈥� technique that has never been used before in documentary film-making, the identities of those most at risk are protected. By the close of the film, 151 people have been located with the help of the LGBTQ pipeline. Yet 40,000 others remain in hiding and in need of protection.

Available now

1 hour, 29 minutes

Last on

Wed 24 May 2023 00:45
大象传媒 Four

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Credits

Director David France
Executive Producer Joy A. Tomchin

Broadcasts

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  • Storyville

    Amazing, shocking, inspiring and award-winning - the best in international documentaries.

  • Game-Changing Documentaries

    Celebrate the excellence of factual film-making with The Grierson Trust

  • LGBTQ+ Voices

    A celebration of distinctive perspectives and powerful voices.