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Photo top right: JoAnne Pearce
(Left) Pride vs. Prejudice began its eight-city
screening tour at the Palace of Culture and
Science in Warsaw. The building was a “gift”
from Stalin. At the time, male homosexuality
was punishable by up to five years of hard
labour in prison.
(Above) Andrew Paul, Doug Stollery, Senator
Dr. Kristopher Wells and Darrin Hagen on the
steps of the Palace of Culture and Science for
the European premiere of Pride vs. Prejudice:
The Delwin Vriend Story.
Photo: Aaron Pedersen
Pride Across
Borders
An Edmonton documentary travels to Poland,
By
DARRIN HAGEN
sparking global dialogue on 2SLGBTQ+ rights
I
’m pretty sure my response was “you know I’ve never
directed a documentary before, right?”
Three years ago, I got an email from Andrew Paul,
Marketing and Communications Advisor with Edmonton
Community Foundation, asking if I was interested in doing
just that. Did I want to direct a documentary about Vriend
v. Alberta — Canada’s first successful Supreme Court
ruling on gay rights? This truly Edmonton story about a
man fired for being gay, and his battle with the province
of Alberta to have his equality recognized and protected,
marked a profound change in Canadian society.
After being screened at film festivals across North
America, our award-winning documentary Pride
vs. Prejudice: The Delwin Vriend Story was about
to cross the Atlantic for its European premiere at
the 16th Poland LGBT+ Queer Film Festival, at the
invitation of the Canadian Embassy. This screening
was a unique opportunity for diplomatic outreach,
and so our team of producers and creators headed
to Warsaw to connect with activists, politicians
and ambassadors to explore the challenges facing
generations of Queer lives.
ecf.ca
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