In Poland, a political and media campaign of hatred has been going on for several years, with more social groups falling victim to it, including Jews or LGBTQ people. These people are presented as a threat, the so-called ‘ideology’ that stands in opposition to so-called ‘traditional values’. The campaign has also moved to the level of local authorities, which have massively established ‘LGBT-free zones’. The homophobic and antisemitic message, which is also strongly present in the public media, reaches a large part of society. Meanwhile, in Poland, up to 30% of LGBTQ people have recently experienced violence because of their identity (Campaign Against Homophobia), and hate crimes are also on the rise. The LGBTQ community in Poland has also been traumatised by the events of August 2020 in Warsaw Krakowskie Przedmieście str. , when an activist from Stop Bzdurom collective and 48 demonstrators were brutally detained.

As part of the project, a series of anti-discrimination workshops and film screenings ‘Jew, Gay – deformations of the unknown’ were conducted. Scripts were also created for classes based on selected films. Films that served as educational material included such productions as ‘Gold’ by Tomasz Knittel and ‘7 August’ by Michael Bolland. Workshop participants learned about the lives of the films’ heroes and heroines – a rock star, a cyclist and an urban movement activist, LGBTQ activists – and their individual stories became the starting point for a conversation about the situation of minorities. A total of 101 people took part in the online workshops.

Those who took part in the workshops deepened their knowledge of the mechanisms of discrimination, especially homophobia and antisemitism,developed their skills in critical thinking, argumentation and active advocacy of people experiencing prejudice based on their identity. The project was also an important initiative showing how film art can go hand in hand with educational activities and carry an anti-discrimination message.