May 2022 – Robert Hampton

Berl10n

Today marks ten years since I first set foot in the city of Berlin. Since then I have banged on about it regularly at quite some length, to anyone who is prepared to listen (a list which grows shorter with every passing day). And on this momentous anniversary, I’m afraid I’m doing it again. I won’t stop until everyone I know has visited at least once, so hurry up and get on with it, people!

My first visit was with my aviation geek friend Andrew, who wanted to see the new airport that was due to open that summer (ha!). So, if you ever get bored of me going on about Berlin, blame Andrew for introducing me to the place.

First impressions were not brilliant. We landed at the old Schönefeld Airport, which seemed to have been run-down in anticipation of the new airport opening. The attached railway station had zero customer-facing staff, just a row of ticket machines that accepted only cash or German debit cards, with very little explanation to the many arriving visitors of what ticket to buy or what train to catch.

Fortunately, things could only get better, and we had a splendid time wandering the city, visiting museums, riding the U-Bahn and spilling out of gay bars in the early hours of the morning (ahem). By the end of the trip, I was completely enamoured with the place.

Berlin 2012, blogged: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7.

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“Hi.” “Hi.”

Note: I started writing this blog post last week. In the interim period, Netflix has decided, again, to provide a platform for obnoxious transphobia. My blog post is specifically about Heartstopper and nothing else, but I need to acknowledge that the platform that produced this beautiful programme is also pumping out some hacky anti-LGBTQ dreck.

The news that Heartstopper got renewed for two more seasons made my own heart skip for joy. The show, based on a series of graphic novels, based on a webcomic by Alice Oseman, has quickly become one of the most talked-about shows of 2022 so far.

For the uninitiated, Heartstopper follows Charlie, a gay teenager at an all-boys secondary school, who gets paired up with Nick, a boy from the year above. When Charlie joins Nick on the rugby team, a friendship quickly blossoms and develops into something deeper, as Nick is forced to confront his own sexuality.

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Eurovision Wrong Contest

The FA Cup Final is today, but I am naturally more interested in the Gay FA Cup Final, namely Eurovision, which kicks off at 8pm tonight.

There’s lots of chatter about the UK’s entry this year. After several years of lacklustre performances, earning few points from either the jury or televote, the BBC has changed direction. This year, the UK has gone with an innovative, risky strategy of entering a decent song with a likeable performer. It seems to have paid off, as Space Man is actually being talked about as a possible winner. Sam Ryder immediately piqued my interest in his song by releasing a lyric video based on teletext, albeit fake teletext that was just unrealistic enough to annoy me.

But I don’t want to talk about the front-runners. No, I am far more interested in the poor artists who poured their heart and soul into their song and performance, only to get perfunctorily booted out at the semi-final stage. Let’s take a moment to acknowledge the performances that failed to get through because Europeans apparently wanted a load of tedious ballads instead.

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The Birdie Song

Firebird is a new film which has been doing the rounds on the LGBT film festival circuit for the last year or so, garnering mostly positive reviews. It has finally had a wider release, hence why I trekked out to Cheshire Oaks last week with a voucher code in my pocket.

Set on a military base in Soviet-occupied Estonia in 1977, Firebird tells the story of Sergey (Tom Prior), a young soldier in the Soviet army, who falls for his new commanding officer Roman (Oleg Zagorodnii). The pair embark on an illicit love affair, forced to keep it secret from everyone, in an era when homosexuality is very much illegal.

The film is based on the true story of Sergey Fetisov and his memoir A Tale about Roman. Sadly the real Sergey died in 2017, but he was able to provide his input to the cast and the director, Peeter Rebane, while the film was in pre-production, and the film is dedicated to his memory.

An added poignancy came from the knowledge that Oleg Zagorodnii, who plays Sergey’s clandestine lover, Roman, is not on the promotional tour for the film. Instead, he is in his home city of Kyiv, helping to defend Ukraine from another occupation.

Firebird is a wonderful piece of work. Beautifully filmed, with great performances from the cast – Prior and Zagorodnii are excellent and utterly believable as a couple.

Disappointingly, the film seems to be only on very limited release, but it is well worth seeking out.

Also… Tom Prior. Just look at him.

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Firebird is on limited release in the UK, USA and probably some other places. Go to firebirdmovie.com for tickets and showtimes. It is released on DVD on 6th June.