The Abominable Crime (2013)
Presented by Pon di Pride
Q&A: Timothy Paul
- Price:
- € 12 regular
- € 0 Cineville gratis
- Valid for Cineville More info
18:30 Doors 19:00 Introduction 19:05 The Abominable Crime 20:10 Q&A: Timothy Paul
There is mounting pressure from right wing and conservative forces across the world to reverse years of hard won Queer Rights. Against the nature of these obstacles; what does the queer experience look like in different places across the world? Together with Pon di Pride, at this event we will focus on the queer experience in Jamaica. There will be a screening of the 2013 film "The Abominable Crime" followed by a discussion with the audience, moderated by MUA and cultural expert Timothy Paul.
The Abominable Crime, at heart, is a story about a mother's love for her child and an activist's troubled love for his country. It also gives voice to gay Jamaicans who, in the face of endemic anti‐gay violence, are forced to flee their homeland. Simone, a young lesbian single mother, survives a brutal anti‐gay shooting. Now she must choose between hiding with her daughter in Jamaica in constant fear for their lives or escaping alone to seek safety and asylum abroad. Maurice, Jamaica's leading human‐rights activist, is outed shortly after filing a lawsuit challenging his country’s anti-sodomy law. After receiving a flood of death threats, he escapes to Canada, and then risks everything to return to continue his activism.
Told first hand as they unfold, these personal accounts take the audience on an emotionally gripping journey traversing four years and five countries. Their stories expose the roots of homophobia in Jamaican society, reveal the deep psychological and social impacts of discrimination on the lives of gays and lesbians, and offer an intimate first-‐person perspective on the risks and challenges of seeking asylum abroad.
Melkweg often hosts different types of programmes at the same time, such as concerts, club nights and films. Please note that there may occasionally be some noise pollution from other programmes during the screening.
