Join the Centre for Research in Race and Rights and the University’s Research Priority Area in Rights and Justice for a film festival at the Nottingham Contemporary, Saturday 6 February, 11-5pm.

They will screen three powerful films on gay and transgender rights throughout the day:

• Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin (2003) uses interviews and archive footage to bring to life the story of a prominent though still often overlooked African American civil rights activist. Rustin was an anti-war pacifist, and an excellent strategist and activist for civil rights, including as an advisor to Martin Luther King and an organiser of the 1963 March on Washington. That Rustin was openly gay informed his stance against bigotry of all kinds but left him sidelined in the history of the civil rights movement. The film has won numerous awards, including the 2004 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Documentary; the 2003 Best Documentary Award at the Turin International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, and the Jury Award in 2003 for Best Documentary at the Chicago Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.
• Out in the Night (2014) is a documentary focusing on the story of several young African American lesbians in New York City who were assaulted one night in 2006. The women defended themselves but the police were called, and they were arrested and charged with gang assault and attempted murder. Four of the women pleaded not guilty and were subsequently labeled in the press as the “Gang of Killer Lesbians.” In activist circles, they become The New Jersey Four (NJ4). The documentary has won numerous awards, including the 2014 Audience Award at the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival and was the Official Selection at Outfest LGBT Film Festival in LA, 2014.
• My Prairie Home (2014) tells the story of transgender singer/songwriter Rae Spoon and their difficult upbringing with an abusive father in the midst of gender confusion. Interviews, performances and music sequences reveal Spoon’s inspiring process of building a life of their own, as a trans person and as a musician. The film was a shortlisted nominee for the Canadian Screen Award for Best Feature Length Documentary at the 2nd Canadian Screen Awards.

Free, all welcome. Book online.

Part of our LGBT History Month 2016 celebrations.