The Department of Theatre and Dance will present a free screening on Feb. 5 of Forbidden: Undocumented and Queer in Rural America, an award-winning, feature-length documentary about an undocumented queer activist fighting for equality.

The screening will take place at 7 p.m. in the Screening Room in the Center for the Arts, North Campus. It will be followed by a Q-and-A with the subject of the film, Moises Serrano, and the films director, Tiffany Rhynard, who is an artist-in-residence with the Department of Theatre and Dance this week.

Forbidden tells the story of Serrano, whose parents brought him from Mexico to the U.S. as a baby. After 23 years growing up in the rural south as an undocumented gay man, he is forbidden to live and love in the country he calls home and sees only one option to fight for justice.

Rhynard is an artist, dancer and filmmaker whose work examines the complexity of human behavior and addresses social issues. Her choreography, dance films and documentaries have been presented nationwide and internationally.

Her recent dance documentary short, Black Stains, about black male identity in the United States, is currently screening at film festivals. The film was created in collaboration with Trent D. Williams Jr.

As a performer, Rhynard has danced for such choreographers as Gerri Houlihan, Laura Dean Dancers and Musicians, and Chavasse Dance and Performance Group. She has taught at colleges and universities throughout the country and currently is an assistant professor in the School of Dance at Florida State University.

Serrano served as a producer and one of the cinematographers for Forbidden. His mission is to de-criminalize and humanize the issue of migration while advocating for immediate relief to migrant communities.

Forbidden earned the first-ever Social Justice Film Award from the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Freedom Award from Outfest Film Festival.

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Film on undocumented queer activist to be screened - UB Now: News and views for UB faculty and staff - University at Buffalo Reporter