On Friday, October 25, 2019, Pride & Progress, a film festival and symposium, takes place at Harvard Kennedy School. Stay tuned for our full Festival lineup, coming soon. In the meantime, save the date and get ready for:

• Movies from four continents: Asia, Africa, North America, South America.
• Meaningful discussions by actors, directors, and producers from movies to be screened.
• Thought-provoking panels and Q&As exploring a wide spectrum of queer experiences

About the Festival:

Pride & Progress: Film festival and Symposium will highlight human rights filmmakers and activists who are leading the cultural fight against laws that criminalize and discriminate against LGBTQ+ people in the former British colonies. These ancient vestiges of British imperialism are still being used to police and punish LGBTQ+ peoples, identities, and relationships in 37 of the 53 Commonwealth countries, leading to persistent prejudice from both the government and public and preventing queer people from enjoying basic freedoms, equal rights, and human dignity. The principal aims of this convening are to highlight the brave cultural work that has been done through film and to motivate audiences to stand up against these unjust laws and take action to change them. We also recognize that some countries have recently taken strides to overturn these outdated laws, and our film festival and symposium will highlight this promising work as well. View the official flyer (PDF).

Pride & Progress: Film festival and Symposium is curated jointly by:

• HKS Lecturer on History and Literature, Public Policy, and Education, Timothy McCarthy
• HKS alumnae and Commissioner, Cambridge Human Rights Commission, Yasmin Padamsee Forbes
  
  The Festival is sponsored by the Carr Center for Human Rights, Harvard Business School, Harvard Law School, Lakshmi Mittal, and Family South Asia Institute, the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies - Central America and the Caribbean Program and the Africa Center at Harvard University. The event is also supported by the Mayor's Office in Cambridge, the Cambridge Human Rights Commission, Cambridge LGBTQ+ Commission, HKS Women Network, and Harvardwood.