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Danny's Parade

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Film info

Title: Danny’s Parade
Running time: 15 min.
Director: Anneke de Lind van Wijngaarden
Country of origin: The Netherlands, 2007
Language: Dutch
Genre: Documentary
Suggested age group: 15+ years

Synopsis

Danny is fourteen and gay. Because life is lonely and difficult for gay teens like himself, Danny decides to participate in Amsterdam’s annual Gay Canal Parade, with a ‘gay & lesbian youngsters’ boat’. As soon as the Dutch media find out about Danny’s plans, he becomes a mini-celebrity, and his preparations are made public by several newspapers.

Main themes

Perseverance and determination
Breaking down barriers – fighting for rights
Identity
Family
Peer relations
Coming out / outing
Activism
Human rights

Aims

Pupils can: create a safe area for all at school, write a letter to an influential person;
Pupils become aware: of the role of the media;
Pupils know: what Coming out, Coming Out Day, Gay Pride, are.

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A. Before the film: Introduction   5 min.
  Exercise 1 Gay @ school pairs 30 min.
B. Showing the film:   15 min.
C. After the film:    
  Exercise 2 First impressions together 15 min.
  Exercise 3 In the picture together 15 min.
  Exercise 4 A letter individual 15 min.

 

A: Before the film
Exercise 1: Gay @ school (Coming out!)

A lot of young gay and lesbian people do know at a young age that they are different. But telling your parents, brothers, sisters and friends that you are gay is a big issue. Being openly gay in your private life and at school can only happen in a safe and supporting atmosphere. Coming out of the closet requires courage and independence. The support of family and friends makes it easier.

October 11 is International Coming Out Day.
How safe is your school?
Is it possible for pupils and teachers to be openly gay?
Is there an anti-bullying policy?
Do you consider the school environment to be open and supportive?
Can everybody be him/herself?

 

C: After the film
Exercise 2: First impressions

To gauge the pupils’ first impressions start with four topics:

THE FILM MAKES ME…
STRIKING MOMENTS
VISUAL ASPECTS
QUESTIONS

Give the students some time to write down their findings on the blackboard or flipcharts. You may need to explain the keywords briefly.

THE FILM MAKES ME
Under this first heading they list the emotions they felt whilst watching the film. These can be content related, but also feelings of approval or disapproval.

KEY MOMENTS
Under the second heading they list any moments out of the film that appealed to them; moments they remember; moments that touched them.

VISUAL ASPECTS
The third heading is used to note down all technical aspects they noticed during the viewing: things about the camerawork, sound, music, colour, lighting, acting and so forth.

QUESTIONS
Under the item ‘questions’ the pupils can formulate all kinds of questions about things they didn’t understand including content, characters, setting, dialogue, storyline…

After this exercise you have a picture of what are the live issues for the group: the key scenes, some important visual aspects and posed questions, any of which may provide good starting point for further discussion.

Exercise 3: In the picture (media hype)

In several cities in the world there is an annual LGBT Pride event, one of which is the Canal Parade in Amsterdam. Gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans people celebrate their identity in public. The mainstream media choose these events to portray homosexuality. They tend to show the extreme pictures of half naked men and interview people with extreme appearances or costumes. One of the boats is called ‘Danny’s Parade’ after main character of this reportage Danny. He is not half naked or extreme; nor is he a drag queen. He is simply young and gay.

What kind of images of LGBT people do you see on TV?
Why do the media choose to focus on stereotypes?
How do the media select their items?
If you were a journalist, who would you interview and what kind of questions would you ask?
If you were a camera operator who would you choose to show?

 

Exercise 4: A letter (positive family acceptance)

‘Danny’s Parade’ starts with a letter Danny sent to his parents, brother and sister, as his way of telling them about being gay. Although Danny has a supportive family, he was nervous nonetheless, and chose to write a letter.

What was he afraid about?
Did he tell his friends, schoolmates? How else might one communicate in such situations?
Write a letter to a friend, family member, and parent about a subject which might be sensitive, explaining what you want to say, tell and ask but would be afraid to.