Like everywhere else in the world, gays and lesbians in Cameroon seek refuge in the city. The two young gay men in this film are crazy about Rihanna and Lady Gaga, who has been a gay icon since her hit song ‘Born this way’. But the tolerance Lady Gaga sings about is just a dream for them. In their country, homosexual relations are subject to punishment of up to five years in prison, and it is almost impossible to come out to your own family. This film describes both the impossible and the possible. The filmmakers’ unobtrusive proximity to their protagonists has yielded conversations in which their interlocutors discuss their longing for a love life they are forbidden to have. Alice Nkom is a lawyer and human rights activist fighting to protect the rights of gays and lesbians. Thanks to her, there is quiet hope and small niches can be discerned where there is something akin to a life not based upon self‐ denial. After Call me Kuchu, which documented the situation for homosexuals in Uganda and won a Teddy Award in 2012, Born This Way makes it clear that the worldwide struggle for tolerance and equality still has a long way to go. NEW ENGLAND PREMIERE

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J, a black lesbian stud with mad swagger and stone butch tendencies, and her best friend Seb, a cute white twink with a penchant for brightly colored nail polish, do everything together. Seb assists JJ when she’s photographing gay and straight weddings, they club together, get high together, and they live together…usually harmoniously, even when JJ catches Seb masturbating in their flat’s kitchen. When JJ meets a beautiful femme named Elle at the local pub, Seb warns her that the seductress is trouble, to no avail: JJ is determined to have her, whether she’s seeing someone else or not. As JJ becomes more and more enamored with Elle and they begin a tumultuous, boundary‐pushing relationship, while Seb is busy lusting after his online conquests while thwarting the advances of a flamboyant drug dealer, their once solid friendship begins to waver. But it turns out that Elle has something to hide that JJ can’t wrap her mind around, and Seb’s manly cyber crush isn’t all that he seems. As urban London’s homophobia affects both of their lives in different ways, JJ and Seb must lean on each other and both are forced to reevaluate their own stereotypes and beliefs on love and life. Description courtesy of Angelique Smith of Frameline Film Festival.

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Join filmmakers, artists, and community activists to discuss trans representation in contemporary media. Saturday, May 4th, 4:00 pm Bright Family Screening Room, Emerson College This panel will look to address the following questions: What is the concept of representation? Who controls the representation? How are stories being told that appropriately display these ideas and concepts? In our years of programming LGBT film we’ve seen the same old same old regarding transgender representation, narrative, etc. and we’d like this panel unpack that. The majority of these narratives aren’t written by members of the trans community and so where is the control? Who tells these stories and for whom? Confirmed panelist are: Dan Hunt. Director of MR ANGEL (2013 Fest), BEAR RUN (2008) Caleb Cole. Artist. Michelle Figueiredo. Michelle is an IS OPS and Business Transformation Senior Associate at State Street Corporation, where she is the only known transgender employee and the only known person to transition on the job in the company worldwide. Other panelists to be announced. This panel is co-presented by the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition.

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