IX Side by Side LGBT Film Festival, Saint Petersburg, 2016 IX Side by Side LGBT Film Festival, 2016 | Page 14

Valery Nechay
Valery is a journalist with Echo of Moscow radio station, a newscaster,
and political commentator. He has covered such major political events as the revolution
in Ukraine in 2014, the international investigation of the downing of Malaysian Airlines
Flight MH17 near Donetsk and the US presidential elections. He focuses on Russian
domestic policy, human rights and social problems.
«Cinema is a unique language that
lets us talk even with our opponents.
We can use it to explain that, in fact,
we are all the same, whatever our
peculiarities, interests and likes. All of
us live, breathe and feel. All of us feel joy
and sorrow, hatred and love. The most
interesting thing is this conversation
is conducted not through words,
but on the level of feelings, the most
accurate and powerful destroyer
of stereotypes. May this nonverbal
conversation
keep
on
going.
It is proof all of us are quite different
and, at the same time, all the same».
Galina Artyomenko
Galina is a Petersburg journalist. Born in Leningrad, she has worked
at radio stations, newspapers and news agencies in Leningrad/
Petersburg. She currently works for the news website MR7.ru, as well
as the Internet newspaper Fontanka.ru. Winner of the Petersburg Human
Rights Commissioner’s Special Prize for her contribution to the coverage
of human rights issues, awarded at the 2015 Golden Pen competition
for journalists working in Petersburg and Leningrad Region.
«Everyone has the right not to be lonely, to love and be loved.
I am talking about the right and the desire to be close to someone
else. Life is impossible with this right and desire. We cannot doubt
whether another person has this right. That is why I support
the LGBT movement. I think it is vital that different people realize
you cannot encroach on anyone’s right not to be lonely in this world,
to want love and warmth».
Fyodor Dubshan
Fyodor, a journalist, has worked for the newspapers Peterburgskii Chas Pik, Delovoi Peterburg,
and Vechernii Peterburg, and the magazine Snob. Since 2011, he has been involved in social
and political activism, in particular as an ally of the community in LGBT protests.
«I am extremely honored to be serving
on the festival’s press jury. It is a double
pleasure for me. First, Side by Side
is about culture, and there are often loads
of really talented films. Art and culture
are what I write about. Second, Side
by Side deals with the problems
and lives of LGBT people, and nowadays,
especially in Russia, this is one of the
most important and controversial issues.
The problems of all minorities, which
make up the majority, are important,
but the fight for LGBT rights is, perhaps,
the most visible and telling phenomenon.
This is the principal dispute: whether
we will build a life based on humanity
and understanding or on some other
grounds. When the personal and universal
are connected, when the filmmaker’s
freedom and current social issues come
together, a genuine conversation between
people is born from this synthesis.
This is the best way to reach out to each
other and realize we all stand side by side».