The Sixth Rainbow Film Festival

14th October – 16th October 2011

This was a festival of new things:

  • For the first time, the festival was held over a weekend, showing 6 films over 3 days rather than 7 films over 7 evenings,
  • We had banners stretching across the road on two entrances to Shrewsbury,
  • We brought discussions – and guests – to the festival. Sergey Yenin, Chair of IDAHO Belarus joined us on Saturday, alongside West Mercia’s Chief Constable following the UK Premiere screening of East Bloc Love. Then, on Sunday, we welcomed the Director, Producer and namesake of ‘Jan’s Coming Out’, a British film currently taking Europe (and Florida!) by storm – they travelled from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Manchester to join us for the day before setting off for screenings in France and Italy!

Films shown were:

  • Were The World Mine
  • East Bloc Love (UK Premier)
  • Gigola
  • Boy’s Don’t Cry
  • Jan’s Coming Out
  • Undertow

February 2011 – Interim Event (LGBT History Month)

For LGBT History Month, RFF teamed up with Shrewsbury Archive to show “Queens Evidence”. A dramatised series of interviews about older lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people’s experiences of the police service This isn’t just a look back at the ‘bad old days’. Whilst bringing home just how far we’ve come, it serves primarily to help understand why it takes more thana change in the law to convince a community that has experienced a lifetime of discrimination that the police are now there to protect, not persecute, them.