Saved events

Share your feedback

UK Premiere: Silent Voice (15*) + recorded ScreenTalk with director Reka Valerik

New East Cinema

,Barbican Cinema 1
A man lies in on a bed belly down, in a dimly lit room, with a Russia hoodie in the background

A young martial arts fighter flees Chechnya, after his brother discovers that he is gay and threatens to kill him, and struggles to find his way in a new country in this powerful documentary.

Khavaj, a young gay Mixed Martial Arts fighter, has fled his birthplace of Chechnya where homophobia is rife and overtly expressed by its leadership. Fearful of the death threats made by his brother, he has moved to Belgium, where he must live in total anonymity. Silent Voice traces Khavaj’s first months in Brussels, where he struggles to adapt to a new identity and tries to regain his ability to speak, lost through the trauma of his predicament.

Silent Voice is a tremendously brave and moving film in which director Reka Valerik follows Khajav as he listens to phone messages from his distraught mother and starts to build a new life. Film festivals in Russia have cancelled screenings of the film, following threats and complaints about the promotion of ‘LGBT values’. This screening is the first time the film has been shown in the UK.

Tagged with: Cinema New East Cinema

France/Belgium 2020 Dir Reka Valerik 51 min

This is a Captioned Screening. 

 

Booking is essential. Unless or until guidance changes, six people or two households of any size can visit together as a group. Please only sit directly beside someone from your household or support bubble, and avoid moving seats when you arrive, so we can keep social distancing in place between you and other groups. 

 

See more film for less

Get 20% off tickets and pay no booking fees. Plus, enjoy priority booking and £6 Members’ Screenings of the latest films every Sunday (T&Cs apply)
Join Membership

Barbican Cinema 1