Good Pitch Film Stirs Gay Marriage Debate
2 June 2015 at 11:44 am
A film about the children of same-sex parents funded through social change event Good Pitch will have its Sydney premiere this week, as the Labor Party and the Coalition consider their positions on same-sex marriage.
Directed by Maya Newell, Gayby Baby addresses the marriage equality issue from the perspective of the children of same-sex partners, who share stories about their experiences in a world that places intense scrutiny on families like theirs.
There will be a screening of the film for MPs and Senators and their staff at Parliament House in August.
MPs will also have the opportunity to see Gayby Baby at screenings to be held around the country from June in electorates where local MPs hold the balance of power in the marriage equality vote.
“Over the past five years I’ve been listening to politicians turn around and say marriage is about kids and kids need a mother and a father and we’ve kind of had this really ugly debate where children are sitting in the midst of it,” director Newell recently told Radio National.
“I was raised by my lesbian mums, they had their 30th anniversary this year, which is pretty amazing, and I just felt like there was a voice missing in this discussion. Even though gays can’t marry, they’ve been having kids for generations already.
“I really wanted to feel like the film would give an honest portrayal of what it’s like to grow up with same-sex parents today.”
Gayby Baby is Newell’s debut feature. The film recently premiered to sold out audiences in Toronto at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival and was last year featured in the Good Pitch event in Sydney.
The Good Pitch event is said to have changed the way philanthropy and filmmakers drive social change in Australia.
The eight-hour inaugural pitching event saw seven filmmaking teams present their documentaries to an audience of three hundred participants including philanthropic foundations, and Not for Profits as well as private philanthropists, corporate foundations, policy makers, and broadcasters.
Good Pitch Australia was an initiative of Shark Island Institute and Documentary Australia Foundation. Pro Bono Australia and Philanthropy Australia, are Community Partners for the initiative.
Last year was the first time Good Pitch, the international documentary forum devised by BRITDOC and Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program, has been brought to Australia.
