Winner—Best Mid-Length Documentary Award
Fleeing anti-gay tyranny in Chechnya, Khavaj (pseudonym), a young mixed martial arts fighter, finds himself adrift in Brussels suffering from trauma-induced, psychogenic mutism. An anonymous director (alias Reka Valerik) captures Khavaj's first few months in exile as he receives support from a Belgian non-profit organization. Long considered a hostile environment for LGBTQIA+ people, Chechnya has seen an uptick in homophobic violence in recent years, no doubt spurred by the hateful rhetoric from the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, and the anti-gay policies and cultural norms common across the Russian republics. Law enforcement and citizen vigilantes alike are known to abduct and terrorize those suspected of being gay. In Khavaj's case, his own brother is his tormentor and his attempts to build a new life are cinematically posited against the chilling backdrop of his mother's voicemails from home. Denae Peters
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