March For Dignity
The Fight For Tbilisi Pride
March For Dignity is a documentary film that follows the struggle to organize the very first Pride Parade in Tbilisi, Georgia. Director John Eames shares how the film was made and talks about how despite opposition, Georgia is progressing in the right direction.
Tbilisi, Georgia
What inspired you to make this film? Why is this important to you?
I had been following countries attempting to hold their first pride march for a while, with a general interest in LGBTQ+ rights around the world. There's a number of countries that we don't hear much about with regards LGBTQ+ rights, and prides can be a really important tipping point for a country's progress. Georgia seemed particularly interesting geopolitically, and with alarming violence against queer Georgians in the past, everything came together for the perfect moment to help support their progress with a film.
How did this come together? How did you find out about the pride, how long was filming, etc
I had some ideas around nascent pride marches around the world, so was following such news closely. Tbilisi Pride just seemed so unique to me, and after chatting with some of the organizers, they showed interest in us making a documentary. I went to Tbilisi for one week not too long after they first announced the Pride, and then back a few months later for the weeks leading up to Pride. Overall shooting was around 5-6 weeks over 3 trips.
What were some struggles in filming this? What were the joys?
There were various low points in filming. Peaceful events organized by LGBTQ+ activists were consistently thwarted by protesters. It began to feel like an actual march was going to be impossible with all the setbacks, including significant political unrest in the city at the time. The ultimate victories and successes for Pride's activists were really inspiring and emotional to witness so intimately. I'm grateful to have had the chance to be a part of that.
Concerning LGTBQ rights, has Georgia changed since the parade and filming?
Georgia was progressing anyway, and starting to be much more forward facing. It was primarily the actions of well organized far-right groups, and the Orthodox Church, that caused big problems with regards Pride. Due to the global outbreak of Covid-19 forcing Prides around the world to cancel for 2020, it's difficult to say how this year's activism would've been perceived, but there have been counter protests this year nevertheless. There remains trouble with some hate crimes, but hopefully the country will continue in the right direction. Attitudes are changing, and there were positive results from the significant national media attention the first ever Pride received.
What's next for the film?
The global pandemic has forced nearly all film festivals to postpone their events, and some have cancelled entirely. They seem to be making new plans slowly, and March for Dignity will be screening at festivals globally, starting in late July.
