Pedro Almodovar Among Notable Figures Penning Letter of Support to Poland’s LGBT+ Community

Pedro Almodóvar is offering his support to the LGBT+ community in Poland.

A wide group of global entertainment figures, including the 70-year-old Oscar-winning Spanish filmmaker, have signed a letter supporting the Polish LGBT+ community in the face of growing controversy in the country.

Pedro Almodovar

On Tuesday, the government stepped in to support the Polish town of Tuchow, which recently lost financial support from the European Union after it set up a ‘LGBT-free’ zone. The authorities said they were “supporting a municipality that has a pro-family agenda”; the decision has provoked angry responses around the world. On August 8, authorities detained 48 people at a reportedly peaceful pro-LGBT+ protest.

The responses now include an open letter signed by a cross-section of notable figures from film, literature and further afield, including the Almodóvar and Luca Guadagnino, the Nobel Prize-winning author Olga TokarczukThe Handmaid’s Tale writer Margaret Atwood, and Polish filmmakers Agnieszka Holland and Jan Komasa.

The letter, published on the website wyborcza.pl, states that homophobia in Poland is growing because of the incumbent socially conservative government, which it claims is using LGBT+ groups as a “scapegoat”. The letter is addressed to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and calls on the organization to step in and “defend core European values” of “equality, non-discrimination, respect for minorities” which it says are being “blatantly violated in Poland”.

Here’s the full letter:

Dear Dr. von der Leyen:

We, the undersigned, express our outrage at repressions directed against the LGBT+ community in Poland. We speak out in solidarity with activists and their allies, who are being detained, brutalized, and intimidated. We voice our grave concern about the future of democracy in Poland, a country with an admirable history of resistance to totalitarianism and struggle for freedom.

On Friday, 7 August 2020, 48 persons were arrested in Warsaw – in some cases quite brutally – and detained on the grounds that they had participated in a violent illegal gathering. In fact, they were engaged in a peaceful protest in solidarity with an LGBT+ activist named Margot, who had been arrested for damaging a homophobic campaigner’s van. Her group had also placed rainbow flags over statues, including a statue of Christ. These actions were neither “hooliganism” nor “provocations,” as Poland’s government-run media insist, but rather desperate acts of resistance against degrading homophobic hate speech. The van is one of many similar vehicles parading outrageous claims around the cities of Poland: equating homosexuality with pedophilia, and asserting that gays are the source of diseases and a threat to children. Efforts to stop this well-funded hate campaign by legal means had led to nothing.

The broader context is the persistent use of anti-LGBT+ rhetoric by Polish politicians and media, attacks against “LGBT ideology” in the recent presidential campaign, preceded by the emergence in many municipalities and districts of “zones free of LGBT ideology,” allegedly defending the safety of families and children, and last year’s violent attacks against Equality March in Białystok. Homophobic aggression in Poland is growing because it is condoned by the ruling party, which has chosen sexual minorities as a scapegoat with no regard for the safety and well-being of citizens. Margot is, in fact, a political prisoner, held captive for her refusal to accept indignity.

We call on the Polish government to stop targeting sexual minorities, to stop supporting organizations that spread homophobia and to hold accountable those who are responsible for unlawful and violent arrests of August 7, 2020.

We call on the European Commission to take immediate steps to defend core European values – equality, non-discrimination, respect for minorities – which are being blatantly violated in Poland. LGBT+ rights are human rights and must be defended as such.

Naja Marie Aidt, writer, Danish language
Pedro Almodóvar, film director, Spain
Jakuta Alikavazovic, writer, France
Margaret Atwood, writer, Canada
Paul Auster, writer, USA
John Banville, writer, Ireland
Sebastian Barry, writer, Ireland
Judith Butler, philosopher, USA
Sophie Calle, writer and artist, France
John Maxwell Coetzee, writer, South Africa
Isabel Coixet, director, Spain
Stephen Daldry, director, UK
Jean-Baptiste Del Amo, writer, France
Lucas Dhont, director, Belgium
Marion Döring, director of European Film Academy
Cynthia Enloe, political scientist, USA
Anne Enright, writer, Ireland
Ildiko Enyedi, director, Hungary
Richard Flanagan, writer, Australia
Barbara Frey, theatre and opera director, Switzerland/Austria
Timothy Garton Ash, historian, UK
Agnieszka Graff, americanist, Poland
Luca Guadagnino, director, Italy
Miron Hackenbeck, dramaturg, Germany
Ed Harris, actor, director USA
Aleksander Hemon, writer, Bosnia/USA
Agnieszka Holland, director, Poland
Siri Hustvedt, writer, USA
Isabelle Huppert, actress, France
Aki Kaurismäki, director, Finland
Padraic Kenney, historian, USA
Jan Komasa, director, Poland
Ivan Krastev, political scientist, Bulgaria
Jan Kubik, political scientist, UK
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, choreographer, Belgium
Yorgos Lanthimos, director, Greece
Andrzej Leder, philosopher, Poland
Jacek Leociak, historian, Poland
Jonathan Littell, writer, France
Mike Leigh, director, UK
Deborah Levi, writer, UK
Edouard Louis, writer, France
Sergei Loznitsa, director, Germany/Ukraine
Valeria Luiselli, writer, USA
Dorota Masłowska, writer, Poland
Hisham Matar, writer, USA
Ulrich Matthes, actor, Germany
Ian McEwan, writer, UK
Lina Meruane, writer, Chile
Teona Mitevska, director, North Macedonia
Chantal Mouffe, philosopher, Belgium
James Norton, actor, UK
Claus Offe, sociologist, Germany
Paweł Pawlikowski, director, Poland
Richard Powers, writer, USA
Axel Ranisch, filmmaker and opera director, Germany
Keith Ridgway, writer, Ireland
Philippe Sands, lawyer and writer, UK
Volker Schlöndorff, director, Germany
Marci Shore, historian, USA
Stellan Skarsgaard, actor, Sweden
Leila Slimani, writer, France
Timothy Snyder, historian, USA
Johanna ter Steege, actress, the Netherlands
Dariusz Stola, historian, Poland
Małgorzata Szczęśniak, stage designer, Poland
Małgorzata Szumowska, director, Poland
Colm Toibin, writer, Ireland
Olga Tokarczuk, writer, Poland
Alia Trabucco Zerán, writer, Chile
Fien Troch, director, Belgium
Jan Vandenhouwe, artistic director and opera dramaturg, Belgium
Krzysztof Warlikowski, theater director, Poland/France
Beau Willimon, playwright, screenwriter, USA
Adam Zagajewski, poet, Poland
Slavoj Žižek, philosopher, Slovenia

Sebastian Soto Signs with Norwich City

Sebastian Soto is switching sides… 

The 20-year-old Chilean and Mexican American youth international soccer player has completed his move to English Championship side Norwich City, the club has revealed.

Sebastian Soto

Soto arrives on a free transfer, signing a three-year deal plus an option of another year after his contract with 2.Bundesliga side Hannover 96 expired. 

As Soto’s application for a work permit was denied, he’ll be forced to go out on loan for the first year of the deal, with a move to Dutch Eerste Divisie side Telstar among the possibilities.

“It’s a proud feeling. It’s super exciting to join Norwich City,” Soto said.

“The facilities here are really impressive. From the minute I arrived here, it’s given me a lot of excitement.

“Being a young player, it’s nice to hear that the head coach gives us a chance. It was a big factor in me moving here.

“I’m striker that loves scoring goals. I love being part of a good team that plays good football.”

Soto made five first team appearances for Hannover, and much was expected following an impressive set of performances for the U.S. Under-20 side at least year’s FIFA U20 World Cup.

But once it became apparent that Soto wouldn’t sign a new deal with Hannover, his place in the first team was compromised with injuries and overall competition for places also playing a part.

Norwich was recently relegated from the Premier League, but if Soto makes the most of his loan move, it could be a case of good timing. 

Top scorer Teemu Pukki will be 31 by the time Soto’s presumptive loan would end, which might put the American in a better position to contend for a starting spot. The club did recently sign 23-year-old Luxembourg forward Danel Sinani.

Employment regulations will change when the UK leaves the European Union in January 2021, making it easier for Soto to get a work permit.

Soto signed with Hannover in 2018 after rising through the youth system at MLS side Real Salt Lake. He made a positive first impression at Hannover, scoring 17 goals in 24 appearances with Hannover’s U19 team during the 2018-19 season. He made his first team debut later in that campaign.

Cruz Among Spanish Entertainment Industry Representatives Denouncing Israel’s Incursion into Gaza

Penelope Cruz is denouncing Israel’s incursion into Gaza.

The 40-year-old Oscar-winning actress is among dozens of Spanish film stars, directors, musicians and writers, including her husband Javier Bardem and director Pedro Almodovar who’ve published an open letter published on Tuesday, in which they described Israel’s actions as “genocide.”

Penelope Cruz

The entertainment industry representatives also called on the European Union to “condemn the bombing by land, sea and air against the Palestinian civilian population in the Gaza Strip.”

In the letter, they demanded a ceasefire by the Israeli military and urged Israel to “lift the blockade, which the Gaza Strip has suffered for more than a decade.”

The letter also said: “Gaza is living through horror these days, besieged and attacked by land, sea and air. Palestinians’ homes are being destroyed, they are being denied water, electricity [and] free movement to their hospitals, schools and fields while the international community does nothing.”

Others who signed the letter include directors Montxo Armendariz and Benito Zambrano, actors Lola Herrera, Eduardo Noriega and Rosa Maria Sarda, as well as musicians Amaral and Nacho Campillo.

The entertainers blamed the new round of violence in the Middle East on the occupation of Palestinian land by Israel, which, the letter said, “continues to advance into and invade the Palestinian territories instead of returning to the 1967 borders.”

Almost 1,100 Palestinians and 56 Israelis have died since the Israeli military began its bombardments of Gaza three weeks ago, according to latest reports.

Bardem, who won the Oscar for supporting actor in 2008 for his role in No Country for Old Men, is a known political activist who frequently expounds on controversial issues.

Cruz won an Oscar in the best supporting actress category in Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona in 2009.

The couple is good friends with Almodovar who has won two Oscars – one for best foreign language film for All About My Mother(2000) and one for best original screenplay for Talk To Her (2002).