Somewhere over the rainbow intimately portrays the ongoing challenges faced by the LGBT+ community. How in spite of all the pain, hardship and prejudice that still exists in the world today, the gay community continue to respond with love, pride and optimism.

The film opens with a shocking montage of homophobic abuse, a stark reminder that there’s still a long way to go in the fight for equality. Yet rather than give into the hate,

the characters begin to sing ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’ as a powerful and moving anthem of defiance, urging everyone to fight for a happier and more accepting future. As the film builds to a crescendo, more and more voices join the cause to demonstrate the collective power of pride.

Pride In London is the UK’s largest gay pride festival attracting up to a million people to the capital each year. It’s a vibrant and colourful celebration of gay culture. Yet despite the rainbow flags and carnival atmosphere, the festival has faced criticism in recent years for failing to represent the true diversity of the LGBT+ community or acknowledge the many challenges still faced – 1/5 LGBT+ people have experienced a hate crime, 1/2 LGBT+ pupils are bullied, 1/2 Trans people under 26yrs have attempted suicide.

Casting was at the very heart of our campaign. We worked closely with LGBT+ groups throughout to ensure our film provided an honest an authentic portrayal of the diverse community and remained inclusive of its many subgroups. The campaign featured an all LGBT+ cast - including the UK’s highest-ranking transgender soldier, Captain Hannah Winterbourne and her husband Jake Graf. The script constantly evolved to reflect the real experiences of the cast members creating a series of honest and genuine performances. We also used Pride In London’s own network of contacts to find campaigners with strong links to the cause and important stories to tell. The campaign gave a voice to a group of people previously underrepresented within mainstream media and mobilised the community in the continued fight for equal rights.