Coming out is an immensely important process for the LGBTQI+ community, a way to reclaim selfhood and rebuild inner strength. So it makes sense that this process was the very premise of the new short film “Be Yourself”, produced by Bulgaria-based LGBTQ non-profit Single Step. The film, which is just shy of two minutes, uses parkour as a metaphor for finding oneself through engaging in a queer community. It opens with a powerful clip of its protagonist (German actor Robert Maaser) standing on the edge of a cliff, clearly contemplating taking a step that would end his life. After a few seconds of panicked breathing and a racing heart, he does take a step—one that results not in death but in life.
Originally from Austria and currently based in New York, director Sandro Suppnig has no connections to Bulgaria, but when he was approached by Single Step’s founder Ivan Dimov—who was formerly an investment banker in New York but left to enact change in his home country—he immediately jumped on board. “In Bulgaria, as in many eastern European countries, gay rights barely exist,” Suppnig tells us via email. “However, to me this project and my approach of it has been more universal. No matter where you grow up in the world, when you go through a coming-out process it will always shake you to your core and you will fear rejection and question everything. It might be easier in more liberal societies to be accepted, but first and foremost you have to learn to love your ‘new’ self and re-build your inner strength.”
Parkour serves as a metaphor that is both deeply powerful and original. A sport that descends from military obstacle course training and relies on intense physical strength and endurance, parkour is often regarded as intrinsically heterosexual, intrinsically masculine. Through using it instead as a means by which to find and embrace one’s queer identity, Suppnig and his team effectively reconstruct tropes of heteronormative masculinity. “My identity doesn’t come off so easily,” Maaser’s character says, as he scales a concrete wall and leans in to kiss his parkour partner (Edward Granger). “I am exactly who I am supposed to be.”
As for his expectations for the film’s reception, Suppnig remains humble. “I hope that this film gives hope to those who are in doubt, or live in fear,” he says. “Political change and more tolerance would of course be amazing, and perhaps this video is a small step in that direction. However if it only helps one person, I have achieved my goal.”
Starring ROBERT MAASER, EDWARD GRANGER & A GROUP OF YOUNG BULGARIAN PARKOUR ATHLETES
Directed by SANDRO SUPPNIG
Produced by SINGLE STEP
Supported by B2Y PRODUCTIONS
Cinematography by JALALUDIN TRAUTMANN
