Fund This: Russian LGBT Horror Film, Pyotr495

Written and directed by Canadian filmmaker, Blake Mawson, Pyotr495 is a short Russian-language film. Set in Moscow in 2014, President Vladimir Putin has already led Russia into Crimea and cultivated a violently homophobic society through his newly enacted anti-gay propaganda law. Pyotr is a gay 16-year-old baited by an ultranationalist group known for violent abductions and attacks. In choosing him as their target, his assailants don't realize what they've gotten themselves into. By presenting the story as a horror film, the audience is challenged to ask themesleves which is more frightening, "Some blood and gore? Or the hatred and lack of acceptance in our society in 2015?"

In order to make this project a reality, the team have launched an Indigogo campaign to raise the $30,000 needed. In his appeal, Mawson explained the particular importance of a film like Pyotr495 making its way into the public realm:

"Everyday, people are beaten, terrorized, imprisoned, and killed around the world solely as a result of their gender or sexual preference. As we saw during the 2014 Olympic games, Russian president Vladimir Putin continues to smear gay people as sexual predators and turns a blind eye to their abductions and torture. In Nigeria, mobs have taken to beating gay and trans people on the grounds that they are "cleansing their community". In Istanbul Turkey, this year's gay pride parade was met with a shower of rubber bullets, pepper spray and water cannons from local police. In many parts of the world, we still have a very long way to go before gender or sexual identity no longer defines a person's worth.

This is a pivotal moment in the fight for gay rights around the world, and with your support, we'll be able to finish this film and use the horror genre to shine a light and educate our broad audience on the LGBT Propaganda law and these types of violent attacks in the boldest way we know how."

There are only 17 days left in the fundraising efforts, so watch the chilling trailer below, and head over to their page to learn more and donate: