Children 404 / Deti 404

Statements like “dad said that he'd grab a gun and shoot all homosexuals, and my sister would put them in an asylum,” are just a fragment of the anonymous testimonies of 55 teenagers who, as a part of  the “Children 404” online project, fight against the extremely homophobic atmosphere in Russian society. The situation there has never been comfortable for the LGBT community, and since last June, when Vladimir Putin signed a bill against LGBT propaganda “in order to protect children and youth from information disrupting traditional family values,” which includes threats of fines and prison time, Russia has returned to the Middle Ages. Most teenagers there experience only humiliation and bullying. A brutally authentic documentary, where they tell their own stories, could very well be a sci-fi film from a dark future, yet it is an uncensored report from now, and hits very close to home. The documentary premiered in September at the prestigious Hot Docs in Toronto, where it received a standing ovation. The film won the Audience Award at Mezipatra 2014.