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Currently touring the international film festival circuit is director/poducer Selena Blake's feature documentary titled Taboo Yardies.

Here's how it's described:

It’s not illegal to be gay in Jamaica but legal sanction is the least of your worries. Jamaican society is profoundly and murderously homophobic. This utterly compelling account of how ordinary LGBT people exist under these conditions was filmed on the island itself. Extraordinary stories of violence and the constant living in fear make for sometimes uncomfortable viewing. Interview subjects tell of the casual and relentless attacks; their faces are digitally obscured because there is nowhere for an openly gay person to be safe on the island. The relationship between dancehall culture and some of its notorious artists is well known. Using interviews with a wide range of Jamaicans and leading cultural figures in exile, this is a wide-ranging film which explores how Jamaica got to be this way, and how some people are working for change.

Taboo Yardies is one of a handful of recent documentaries we've profiled that deal with this subject matter. Maybe the fact that we're openly talking about it is a step in the right direction.

Taboo Yardies next screens at the 27th BFI London Lesbian And Gay Film Festival in March.

Here's its trailer:

Selena Blake

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