By Lauren Bray

Film: "A Worm in the Heart"
Directed by Paul Rice
72 mins
USA, Ireland, Russia

"A Worm in the Heart" provides a deep look at the lives of the LGBTQ+ community in Russia.

The film opens with disturbing audio from presumably Russian politicians stating homosexuals should be isolated to prevent harm to the rest of their country's morality.

Narrated by Irish director Paul Rice, he begins discussing his own coming out story in Ireland in correlation with laws of the time and that of his boyfriend Liam Jackson Montgomery in the U.K. While the Western world has been passing laws recognizing same-sex marriage, the anti-gay laws in Russia are growing more rigid.

Shot in six cities along the Trans-Siberian Railway, this film shows incredibly courageous people in the face of persecution. There were scenes of attempted pride festivals that ended in brutal violence. Shockingly, they're similar to scenes we've seen recently in America. In Moscow, they interviewed a group of transgendered women, many of whom attempted suicide or were thrown in psychiatric hospitals. Read more via Edhat