Friday August 25 is Wear It Purple Day, and Australians are being encouraged to don a purple garment as a visible show of support for young LGBTI people.
The Wear It Purple campaign was launched as a community response to alarming rates of self-harm and suicide among rainbow young people who had been bullied and/or harassed for their sexuality or gender identity. In 2010 Katherine Hudson and Scott Williams created the annual expression of support and acceptance of LGBTI youngsters, to demonstrate across the globe that there was hope, that there were people who did support and accept them, and that they have the right to be proud of who they are.
Wear It Purple Day is now an international event, and in Australia, key allies include the NSW Police Force, members of the State Emergency Service, the Ambulance Service, Fire and Rescue, the NSW Rural Fire Service and the Australian Federal Police.
In keeping with the Wear It Purple theme, we've taken the liberty of compiling a list of movies about rainbow adolescents that you can stream right now at SBS On Demand.
Wild Reeds
M
France, 1994
Genre: Drama, Romance,
Language: French
Director: Andre Techine
What's it about?
At a boarding school in the south of France, timid student Francois (Gaël Morel) discovers his homosexuality when he falls for farm boy Serge (Jacques Nolot). A bizarre love triangle soon forms between Francois, his best friend Maetie (Élodie Bouchez) and Serge while the French Algerian war rages in the background, paralleling the tumult of self-discovery that comes at the crossroads between youth and adulthood.
[link title="Wild Reeds review" url="node/105337"]
Circumstance
MA15+
2011
Genre: Drama
Language: Persian-Farsi
Director: Maryam Keshavarz
What's it about?
An exploration of a lesbian relationship in Tehran, Circumstance and looks at the lengths two teenagers, Atafeh (Nikohl Boosheri) and Shireen (Sarah Kazemy), will go to live and love underground in Iran.
[link title="Circumstance Review" url="node/5314"]
C.R.A.Z.Y.
MA15+
Canada, 2000
Genre: Drama, Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Transgender, Queer
Language: French
Director: Jean-Marc Vallée
Starring: Marc-André Grondin, Michel Cote
What's it about?
A French-Canadian portrait of the bonds between a father and his five sons, as told from the perspective of teenage Zachary. A sexually-confused Christmas Day baby who likes to march to the beat of his own drum, Zachary forces himself to live a lie in order to suit his gruff father's (Michel Cote) traditional expectations.
[link title="My Favourite Film: C.R.A.Z.Y." url="node/523"]
Teenage Kicks
Australia, 2016
Genre: Drama
Language: English
Director: Craig Boreham
Starring: Miles Szanto, Daniel Webber, Anni Finsterer, Shari Sebbens
What's it about?
Miklós is at the age when everything feels high-stakes. He is coming to terms with his own sexuality, and when his best friend Dan reveals that he has a new girlfriend, this puts an end to their plans to run away together.
