ABOUT THE PROJECT

LOGLINE
A gay couple from Ireland travel on the Trans-Siberian railway through Russia, Mongolia and China stopping off to meet with members of the LGBTQ+ community living under oppressive laws and harsh societal attitudes.

SYNOPSIS
The documentary follows the trajectory of the Trans-Siberian Railway through Russia, Mongolia and China as Paul Rice and Liam Jackson Montgomery stop off to meet with members of the LGBTQ+ community. The film is a collection of emotionally driven personal interviews captured on the journey that collectively capture the current state of the LGBTQ community in these three countries.

The intended purpose of this documentary is threefold. The first aim of the film is to provide detailed and deeply personal accounts of the current state of the LGBTQ+ communities in Russia, Mongolia and China — and how they all differ from each other yet have many things unexpectedly in common. Secondly, this documentary will depict the many unsettling parallels from these repressed societies to that of western nations and will project a cautionary message to the western world to remain vigilant against the rise of homophobia and transphobia. Lastly the over-arching message of the film is universal and one of hope, that people should not remain hostage to politicians or governments.

The journey of over 5,000 miles saw Paul and Liam meet with a broad range of people — from activists and non-activists across nine cities. Some of the people met with include Nobel Peace prize nominees, drag queens, those who had suffered from brutal homophobic and transphobic attacks and those persevering onward in the fight for greater rights within their respective countries.

PROJECT TYPE Documentary Feature

DIRECTOR Paul Rice
SCREENWRITER Paul Rice
PRODUCER Paul Rice, Sasha White
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Hilary Coate, Liam Jackson Montgomery

WEBSITE awormintheheart.com