Outfest and WeHo Launch LGBT Film Series with Russian Documentaries

The City of West Hollywood on Wednesday will inaugurate a new monthly event that features film screenings and related discussions of interest to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) audiences..

The “Outfest West Hollywood Series” will launch Wednesday with an evening titled “The Whole World is Watching: LGBT Human Rights in Russia on the Eve of Sochi ’14.” The evening will include documentary footage and short films that protest Russia’s infamous “Gay Propaganda” law. The discussion will focus on the state of LGBT human rights and dissent in Russia.

Panelists will include Ana Kasparian, a co-host and producer for “The Young Turks,” an online news show; Milena Chernyavskaya, an émigré who fled Russia after laws forced her to shut down the lesbian magazine she founded; Chadwick Moore, whose article “Love in Putin’s Russia” recently ran in the Advocate, and a representative from U.S.-based protest collective #GayPropaganda. Also attending, if his schedule permits, will be Dustin Lance Black, an Oscar-winning screenwriter who recently visited St. Petersburg to screen “Milk,” a film biography of pioneer gay activist Harvey Milk, at the country’s only LGBT film festival.

The event will take place at 7:30 p.m. at the City Council Chambers, 625 N. San Vicente Blvd. south of Santa Monica. Free validated parking will be available at the West Hollywood Park five-story public parking garage. Tickets, $10 for the general public and $6 for Outfest members, ill be available at the door and may be purchased in advance online.

Outfest, the organization with which West Hollywood is collaborating on the series, has as its goal the promotion of equality by creating, sharing, and projecting LGBT stories on the screen.