As Pride Month comes to a close, the team here at Bohemia Euphoria would like to thank our vibrant community for using our service and streaming our indie films, especially our LGBTQ+ titles throughout the month of June. From the Kenyan focused documentary I Am Samuel to Australian fantasy drama The Greenhouse, we hope you enjoyed getting to know all the wonderful people & characters you interacted with. If you haven’t seen the films mentioned above already, here’s a highlight of LGBTQ+ characters that made memorable appearances in the films released this month on our streaming platform.
This article contains spoilers
I Am Samuel
Samuel Asilikwa
Referred to as Sam by everyone he holds dear, the Kenyan man gives the audience of the documentary insight into life as a queer man living in deeply homophobic territory. Set on a simple mission, to openly love who he loves, we get to experience various aspects of his life from the familial to his friendships and work life over the course of almost a decade.
Sam teaches us to be hopeful and unapologetically ourselves in all our endeavours.
“No matter where you come from, no matter how you are brought up, no matter what you do in life, you have to believe in who you are and do whatever you want to do.”
Alex
With the sunniest of dispositions and a positive outlook on life, it’s hard not to admire Alex. Like his boyfriend Sam, he fights for acceptance and refuses to be put down by the queerphobia around him.
Lapdance aside, perhaps the most important lesson Alex teaches us is how to find calm in the eye of a storm. Though constantly in danger because of his sexuality, he strives for a well balanced life, playing video games when he feels like it, kissing his boyfriend affectionately and hanging out with his queer friends regularly.
The Greenhouse
Beth Tweedy-Bell
Beautiful and drowning in melancholy, the protagonist of Thomas Wilton-White’s “interrogation of grief” struggled with her sexuality as a teenager, especially magnified by her coming from a home with lesbian parents.
Through her character we come to understand, especially by the end of the film, that internalised homophobia doesn’t have to be a death sentence. If you’re willing to do the work, your life can blossom into a completely different story; a much more fulfilling one.
Andrew Tweedy-Bell
Stubborn and outspoken, Andrew teaches us to date whomever we want, whenever we want. He came out while living at home with his parents and set out to live a life of fun and freedom as an openly gay man.
Ruth Tweedy-Bell
At sixty years old one can only hope to look as good as Ruth. Her story is a bitter-sweet one, falling in love at a young age and growing old with the love of her life Lillian; adopting four very individual children. That is, until cancer strikes.
Grieving the death of her wife, Ruth teaches us that though pain, death and grief are inevitable, it is more than worth it to pursue love.
Although Pride Month will be officially over soon, you can still stream our diverse selection of indie films online, which includes several LGBTQ+ titles from those mentioned above to lesbian romance stories Signature Move (plus its exclusive interview and Q&A with the filmmakers) and T11 Incomplete! And our first ever live premiere, Killing Patient Zero. You can view the trailers for all these films on our website.
Upcoming on Euphoria in the UK for the month of July is a special premiere livestream of the film Always Amber (2020). Amber is a 17-year-old teen. Together with best friend Sebastian, the two queer youngsters share a world far away from the judging eyes of society. But when Amber falls in love with Charlie, something starts to challenge their utopian world. Trust issues begin to emerge, and in the midst of it all Amber has to face going through their transition alone. In Always Amber, we get a unique insight into a new generation.
For July we also have a special premiere livestream and Q&A of The Garden Left Behind, winner of SXSW (South by Southwest Film Festival) audience award. Sign up to Bohemia Euphoria to get the news first when tickets become available.
We hope you enjoyed Pride Month! Watch this space for more film reviews and deep dives into the worlds of queer cinema and diverse films.
