Queer Britain is a series that is presented by Youtuber and journalist Riyadh Khalaf, it looks at queer culture and shines a light on challenges that are faced by the LGBTQ+ community. Realesed in May 2017 on BBC 3. The episode I'm focusing on "Does god hate Queers?" looks at a disfellowed Jehovah's Witness, a muslim woman seeking a marriage of convenience and a trans masculine christian as he gets renamed in church.
There are 6 episodes in the series including:
- Episode 1 Does God Hate Queers- exploring the different experiences people in the community have had with their religions
- Episode 2 The search for the perfect body - Exploring what is masculinity, and the growing trend of body dysmorphia, eating disorders and self harm
- Episode 3 Out on the Streets - Looking at what happens to the quarter of young homeless people in Britain who identify as LGBTQ+, and why they are homeless.
- Episode 4 Are Gays Racist? - Exploring casual racism in the LGBTQ+ community
- Episode 5 Porn Idols - Covers the world of Porn and how what porn people watch tells us about sexual identity
- Episode 6 Queer and Proud - What does it mean to be queer in Britain in 2017?
Queer Britain uses archive footage that allows them to illustrate points being made by interviewers/interviewees, as this episode focuses around religion it uses the archive footage to demonstrate that queer people and religion aren't always hand in hand. It also uses it for the presenter to watch allowing them to become more involved in the narrative, he's put in the same position as the audience by being told there is an issue (shown through footage he watches) and then going on a journey to find out why.
The documentary series is all online and throughout the series presenter Riyadh uses personal experiences to explore issues that are affecting a lot of 16-35 year old LGBTQ+ people all over the UK. He meets people who are sleeping rough because of who they are, people who are shunned by the community amongst others. BBC 3 it's self targets 16-34 year olds so the show fits in with that demographic well.
Riyadh Khalaf says: "I’m incredibly excited for Queer Britain to be released. This was a real passion-project which has moved, inspired and educated me in more ways than I ever could have imagined. The series pulls no punches and goes straight to the heart of the issues facing LGBTQ+ people in the UK today. At times it’ll make you feel uncomfortable, shocked and maybe even upset, but overall I think you will see the beauty and diversity of this community in its full glory. This is a raw representation of modern Queer life - the highs, the lows and the high heels!"
Max Gogarty, Executive Producer for BBC Three, says: "This is an exciting series that offers a distinctive, contemporary and colourful look at what it means to be young and queer in Britain today. Launching a formidable new talent in Riyadh, a diverse and young team behind the camera, plus brilliant short-form for social around each episode, I'm sure it will have real impact with audiences and the wider community." - (BBC 3 MEDIA CITY)
The contributors for the doc each have different views and experiences as well as religions which again helps demonstrate that this is an issue that is experienced by everyone not just a select religion. Josh is a Jehovah's Witness who after coming out was excommunicated and rejected by his family. Elijah is a Christian Pansexual and identifies as trans-masculine who's church is renaming him. And finally there is a young Muslim woman looking to have a marriage of convenience to cover her true sexuality for fear of rejection. The safety of contributors is hugely important as the information they are giving could threaten their lives, the crew have covered identities when needed to protect them. In an earlier blog I had some questions answered by the producer of "Queer Britain" she helped explain how answers for questions can help the narrative; How do you script to get specific answers from your contributors?
...your pre script tells you what you journey your film needs to take you on, and so you should be casting your contributors to fulfil a certain function in your film. You may have the best contributor ever who has loads to say on the topic of gender, but if your film is about racism then their knowledge on gender might not be relevant. So you are casting contributors specifically to tell part of your story. Your script should be a thesis. And you should simplify this thesis into film 'BEATS'. So that each contributor is giving you a beat or a few beats, whether it be that they tell you about the feeling of being victimised (at the stat of the film)- this would be a beat. Then at the end of the film, you may come back to that contributor give you another beat about the feeling of being empowered. And the journey in between from victimisation to empowerment you might want other contributors to tell you their personal account for all that's in-between. Peoples personal experiences being marginalised etc. But then finishing the film with empowerment may be a situation where the contributor is not empowering others who they identify with.
The docs locations are all in the UK
In terms of funding because it's a BBC 3 doc it would have to go through a commissioning process where it's pitched to commissioners and then given funding to proceed with filming. From there the show's producer then has to ensure that In accounting to the BBC for its share of Net Revenue, the Producer shall ensure that the recoupment of any Agreed Recoupments shall occur in the order in which the revenue was received by the Producer (or its Distributor if the Distributor is reporting directly to the BBC) to ensure that the BBC’s 25% entitlement to Net Revenue is applied to a fair and appropriate apportionment of the receipts, where the receipts relate to a combination of distribution rights attracting differing BBC back end shares as set out -(BBC commissioning article) This means that the Producer has to ensure that the BBC get's it's share of revenue and that any distributors/production companies adhere to rules.
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Overall from this doc gave me background knowledge about the LGBTQ+ community and the reception they receive from their families/communities. I also through further research was able to learn about the commissioning process and how that would work, by getting in contact with the producer and asking questions I was able to understand how to research contributors and script around them. From here I'll be looking into different channel remits to ensure that our doc like this one fits in well with the channels established target audience. I'll also be looking for contributors that assist the story tell of our doc.
In terms of funding because it's a BBC 3 doc it would have to go through a commissioning process where it's pitched to commissioners and then given funding to proceed with filming. From there the show's producer then has to ensure that In accounting to the BBC for its share of Net Revenue, the Producer shall ensure that the recoupment of any Agreed Recoupments shall occur in the order in which the revenue was received by the Producer (or its Distributor if the Distributor is reporting directly to the BBC) to ensure that the BBC’s 25% entitlement to Net Revenue is applied to a fair and appropriate apportionment of the receipts, where the receipts relate to a combination of distribution rights attracting differing BBC back end shares as set out -(BBC commissioning article) This means that the Producer has to ensure that the BBC get's it's share of revenue and that any distributors/production companies adhere to rules.
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Overall from this doc gave me background knowledge about the LGBTQ+ community and the reception they receive from their families/communities. I also through further research was able to learn about the commissioning process and how that would work, by getting in contact with the producer and asking questions I was able to understand how to research contributors and script around them. From here I'll be looking into different channel remits to ensure that our doc like this one fits in well with the channels established target audience. I'll also be looking for contributors that assist the story tell of our doc.
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