Video (1:17): the trailer of Before We Move, a documentary directed & produced by Aleksandr M. Vinogradov.

A story of queer tango dancers in St. Petersburg dancing their way to a better life in Israel due to the harsh LGBTQ+ political situation in the country. If you’re queer enough for the farewell tango, life will reward you with a new embrace.

A world premiere at the Sheffield Doc Fest 2022: https://sheffdocfest.com/film/we-move

Directed & produced by Aleksandr M. Vinogradov
Cinematography by Tanya Haurylchyk
© Vam Films
Production / www.vamfilms.com

Edited by
Aleksandr M. Vinogradov
Phil Jandaly / additional editing
Anna Savchenko / additional editing
Enis Saraçi / editing advisor

Sound design and mix by
Lancelot Herve-Mignucci

Colorgrading by Matteo Robert Morales

Cast:
Lidia Gribakina, Otar Bagaturia, Mikhail Kapitskiy, Sergey Kapitskiy, Victor Kapitskiy, Yana Khalilova, Natalia Merkulova, Céline Tiberghien, Anna Morisot, Marina Ventarron.

The film documents two years of a couple Misha and Otar before their immigration to Israel. The images of the documentary preserved their lives and emotions in the decision making process. While organising queer tango events andgiving tango classes, they are feeling lost about the upcoming departure.
Tango is a pair dance that originated in the poor port areas of Argentina at the end of the 19th century. It was danced by men, emigrants from Southern Europe, Africa, South America. The dance expressed their suffering about the abandoned homeland, family and loved ones. As society changes, how we dance changes too. In the modern time the international queer community reinvented it as Queer Tango.
It’s a different way to dance, where nobody takes your gender, sexual orientation or choice of role for granted. Like any other popular dance, it is a mirror of the society in which it was developed and from which it emerges. It reflects life and helps people express their complex feelings through dance.
People have always moved in search of better living conditions and escaping dramatic political environment in their homeland. The rising level of homophobia in Russia forces many gays and lesbians to leave their country and seek refuge abroad. When narrow-minded traditionalism and xenophobia are rife in the country, tango leads you forward move by move, no matter what gender, sexual orientation
or nationality you have.