More Films for Freedom

As part of BIC’s Pride Programs, we brings to you five short films that shine a light on the hurdles faced by queer people around the globe as they struggle for existence. These films, selected from British Council’s Five Films for Freedom Collection, explore the stories of those who live their lives unabashedly, enduring injustice yet fostering communities of resilience.

Film Schedule:

The Men Who Speak Gayle
11 mins | English and Gayle with English subtitles | Andrew Brukman | UK with South African collaboration | 2020
Young drag performer Nathan is one of the last people to speak Gayle – a secret language the gay community were forced to invent during Apartheid. He finds out about Louis, an original Gayle speaker living in a conservative desert town in South Africa and wants to put on a performance with him, but don’t know how the town will react.

Baba
18 mins | English and Arabic with English subtitles | Sam Arbor, Adam Ali | UK with Libyan collaboration | 2021
Living in the tunnels beneath Tripoli a queer Libyan teenager, Britannia, dreams of escape to a better life, but an unexpected discovery forces him to question whether to stay or flee from his homeland and his friends. (Winner Iris Prize 2021)

Prayers for Sweet Waters
16 mins | English, Kirundi and French with English subtitles| Elijah Ndoumbe | UK with South African collaboration | 2021
A submergence into the vivid realities of three Transgender sex workers living in Cape Town, South Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Enchanted Day of the Eres
12 mins | Brazilian Portuguese with English subtitles | Coraci Ruiz, Julio Matos | UK with Brazilian collaboration | 2022
Blending animation and actuality with incredible access, this documentary tells the story of an unusual birthday party. It’s a party for the ‘Erês’ – spirits venerated by the religion of Candomblé, one of the few Afro-Brazilian religions that welcomes the LGBTQIA+ community.

A Bird Called Memory
15 mins | Brazilian Portuguese with English subtitles | Leonard Martinelli | UK with Brazilian collaboration | 2022
Lua, a trans woman, has lost her pet bird in the streets of Rio de Janeiro, a city that can often be a hostile place for transgendered people. As Lua journeys to find Memory, we are exposed to streets full of contradictions. When Lua begins to sing the songs of the musicals that Memory and her often watched together, music and cinema become a space of resistance and hope.

The British Council is the United Kingdom’s international organization for cultural relations and educational opportunities, operating in over 100 countries. It promotes the UK and the English language, fosters cultural and educational exchange, and works to improve people’s lives through access to education, skills, and cultural opportunities.

This year, BIC celebrates Pride Month through a series of programs that embrace Queerness as it is — unconforming, changing and alternative. Every program aims to embody the fluid and non-normative possibilities of existence that queerness creates, while fostering a community that welcomes difference in an unbending society, whether that be through new models of living or unique modes of self-expression. Pride, Insists Upon Itself!