Saint Petersburg, Russia
Side by Side LGBT Film Festival
Side by Side is Russia's leading LGBTQ+ film festival, held in Saint Petersburg despite an extremely challenging legal environment. The festival has screened queer cinema to packed audiences since 2008, and its organisers have faced repeated legal challenges under Russia's 'gay propaganda' laws. The courage required to run a queer cultural event in Putin's Russia has made Side by Side one of the most important and admired LGBTQ+ institutions in Eastern Europe.