Film 4: “Samad Vurghun” Director: Darya Safarova & Sevan Mohammadpour (featuring Gudrat Gurban) Description: The fictional film focuses on the experiences of queer people in the general public and public toilets with a twist. Generally, queers feel uncomfortable in the streets and public places in Baku including the restrooms. There are many unfortunate cases of physical attacks, harassment, and hate crimes. Baku’s streets ARE NOT SAFE for the queer community. But, the film takes a different look at the issue and tells a story of a gay using public toilets as cruising areas. As in most places, in Baku, the public toilets are strictly binary and it makes it mostly very challenging for LGBTI+s to make use of them. Trans and non-binaries struggle the most and also community generally feels discomfort when they have to use the public toilets. Not well-secured and isolated public toilets also increase the chances of harassment. Frequent care of the toilets and well-lightning could be some of the solutions and could drastically decrease the potential threat. Many queer people choose to oppress their identity due to the alarming levels of homophobia and transphobia in the country. Considering the situation (in the country), it is a solution for many to ensure their safety and security. However, some people do not feel safe enough to use queer dating apps (due to different reasons) and tend to have different ways of dating and public toilets could be a very subtle example of a cruising space for them. The situation sometimes creates a hostile environment for queers and someone’s safe space for cruising turns into somebody else’s nightmare… This project was realized in collaboration with the Copenhagen Architecture Festival (thanks to the support of The New Democracy Fund). The full version of the film and all films that are produced within the scope of the project can be found on cafx.dk through the link in the bio.

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