CESSPIT OF FREEDOM is a short animated documentary film relaying the story of ‘The Gemini’, a popular Huddersfield gay bar incessantly harassed by raids from the West Yorkshire Police in the late ‘70s. In 1981, The Pride Committee moved their annual gay pride march to Huddersfield out of solidarity with The Gemini Club and the Northern gay community. This was the first gay pride march in the country that took place outside of London. This film was created using audio excerpts from West Yorkshire Queer Stories and visuals animated digitally and separated into layers, screenprinted in colourful inks on cotton, and photographed back together.

WATCH THE FULL ANIMATION ON YOUTUBE - CLICK HERE

DETAILS

Made between Febuary 2022 and May 2022.
Animated in ToonBoom Harmony. Rephotographed in DragonFrame.

CREDITS

ORAN ROSE O’SULLIVAN
Director, Researcher, Lead Animator, Title Designer, Clean-up Artist, Screenprinter, Digitizer

TÂM NGUYỄN
Visual Development Artist, Production Manager, Character Designer, Animator, Clean-up Artist, Assistant Screenprinter

SAM FARROW
Storyboard Artist, Layout Artist, Animator, Clean-up Artist, Digitizer

IBAI SAN MILLÁN GÓMEZ
Composer and Sound Designer

INTERVIEW EXCERPTS
Ian Nipper, Ajamu X, Peter Scott-Presland
West Yorkshire Queer Stories
https://wyqs.co.uk/