Last year the hottest queer love story was undoubtedly the award-winning Firebird. It is an enormously satisfying and complete film that tells a full tale of life, love, and loss from its beginning right up to the end. This first narrative feature by Estonian filmmaker Peeter Rebane told the story of two Soviet military recruits, a pilot officer and a private, falling in love on a military base during the 70s cold war.
The film had an undeniably human element to this story that grips the heart and mind with a sense of both individuality and history. What gave it such an air of authenticity is that it was a true story. Now the team behind Firebird are campaigning to release the never-before-seen English language translation of Firebird: The Story of Roman, the memoir by Sergey Fetisov that inspired the film. Fetisov’s memoir of his experience as a conscript on a Soviet Airforce base during late 1970’s Communist rule, tells a tale of queer romance, the terror of authoritarian rule, and the constant threat that LGBTQIA+ citizens lived under at the time.
Fetisov originally wrote it under a pseudonym and published it in Russian. Now Rebane and his lead/co-writer, Tom Prior are determined to get it printed in English. So they have just launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the editing, publishing, and marketing of an English-language translation of the book world-wide.
Tom Prior adds, “The story was so important for me when I first came across it because there was something so electric in the connection between Sergey and Roman. And, I was astounded by how determined people act out of love, and Sergey did not allow anything stop him overcome the most extraordinary circumstances to follow his heart into real danger.”
Rebane continues “It was humbling to meet the real Sergey and to see that through all his suffering and pain he had retained his compassion and love for other people. We believe it is important to help uplift LGBTQIA+ voices and stories to ensure they are heard around the world. Sharing first-hand accounts like Sergey’s is one of the most powerful ways to support our community and incite positive change. In a society that seems to be set on pushing back against LGBTQIA+ individuals with anti-queer policies, this change and empowerment has become more vital than ever.
Firebird: The Story of Roman by Sergey Fetisov to be published in 2023 and you can help by making a contribution to the Kickstarter campaign: http://kck.st/3RTlooH
Firebird the film is currently available to view on demand on most platforms including Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Play, also available on PeccadilloPOD and BFI Player.
