‘A Safe Space’ not a ‘gay film’

Indeed, A Safe Space, which was produced by the United States Embassy, The Silver Lining Foundation and Near Future Studios, focuses on the suicide of former St Mary’s student George Kazanjian in 2011, but interestingly does not mention once that the 16-year-old was gay.

“People will assume it’s a gay documentary but I’m not gonna say I am pro-gay or anti-gay.

We just really wanted to tell a story of understanding and empathy. Your son could be gay, your neighbour could be gay but at the same time it’s not just about being gay. We touched on stuff like bullying especially in the cyber era,” he added.

A key narrator in the story is George’s mother Katherine whose interviews gradually reveal the trauma and confusion her son went through before ending his life on September 12, 2011.

Matadeen insisted though that there are thousands of people in TT who are struggling like Kazanjian was to find their identity in a brutal society ready to tear them apart at the slightest hint of any deviation from the norm.

“I would say the aim of the documentary is just to not just be open-minded to gay people, which is why off the top it isn’t (screaming) ‘accept gays’ with marching and picketing because I understand the public.

It’s about open-mindedness and awareness,” he said.

A touching scene in the film shines the spotlight on society’s reluctance to answer calls for help and the bullying George went through personally.

Confronting an individual who it was alleged had threatened her son the night before he went missing, Katherine enquired about the whereabouts of her son to which the person dismissively replied “George just looking for attention.” The answer seems to still infuriate Katherine.

“George looking for attention? George hanging!” she cried.

Matadeen said it was important for the silence surrounding LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual) issues to end as this fuels the problem. He said there were other suicides in the country around the same time but families were unwilling to discuss it. Even among the gay population, he argued that many people are unwilling to champion their own cause and prefer to stay in the closet and hope the next generation fights for the rights they want presently.

“The issue is taboo and sensitive.

All government and manifestos are shying away from it because it’s something very touchy,” he said.

The film takes a passive aggressive stance on the political aspect of the situation, showing newspaper headlines of the former People’s Partnership Government promising early in their administration to cater to the needs of the LGBT community but not doing so.

Matadeen noted though that although laws are necessary, there are equally important issues such as respect and tolerance that must not be overlooked. “That’s the thing with pro-gays, they’re always (saying) ‘legislation, legislation’ because it gives them a degree of comfort but at the end of the day what is legislation without education and without building an awareness in society. We have legislation against corruption and racism and what happens? People know wrong and people still do wrong. Legislation is a blanket that gives security and production but legislation is nothing without being educated,” he said.

A Safe Space ties in the 1998 murder of gay Wyoming native Matthew Shepard whose parents visited this country last year as part of the Matthew Shepard Foundation. Shepard, then 21, was savagely beaten to death by two men who are currently serving life sentences for the killing. Shepard’s death sparked a wave of legislation against hate crimes as during trial it was revealed that he was murdered because of his sexual orientation.

Although whether this is accurate has been cause for significant debate, Matadeen believes it is inconsequential if his death was a murder or a hate crime as well.

“I spoke to Matthew Shepard’s father and it soon became less about the documentary and more about the relationship.

Him talking to me about Matthew and he said it was a shock to him because at first he was like any father who might be disappointed when their son says they’re gay - but you play sports, how you’re gonna get grandchildren? But at the end of the day, it struck him that ‘it’s still my son’.

“If you’re not committing a crime, you’re not out there raping, robbing, murdering, we can look at respecting and eventually accepting. Because you can’t just accept initially; you understand, you empathise, you build a degree of respect and you accept.

It’s a process. That’s why it’s not a gay documentary, it’s a documentary showing the steps to acceptance. Everybody stop, take a second and assess that people are different out there.”