Film dealing with persecution of gays to be available on NFB website

MONTREAL - The National Film Board says a movie by a Halifax-based director that deals with the persecution of gays will soon be available on its website.

"Une derniere chance" ("Last Chance") looks at five victims of homophobia-related violence who want to seek refuge in Canada.

The film was directed by Paul Emile d'Entremont and was several years in the making. It premiered at the Atlantic Film Festival last September.

It will be available, for free, on the NFB's website between Dec. 7 and 9.

The dates were chosen to coincide with Monday's 64th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

D'Entremont said the idea for the film surfaced when he was in a taxi in Jordan.

"My photo director, who spoke Arabic and knew I was gay, asked our driver, just to see what he would say, if there were homosexuals in his country," d'Entremont said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

"The man thought about it for a bit before saying there weren't any. I already knew there were plenty of countries where it was very difficult to be gay, but that served as somewhat of a catalyst."

Although the film has been featured at various festivals, d'Entremont said he is looking forward to it being online because of the potential for a wider audience.