Tension Builds Between Military Men in Clip From Cold War Film Firebird

The lush film Firebird has its North American premiere at Frameline this weekend. And The Advocate has an exclusive clip.

Tracy E. Gilchrist

Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP of Editorial and Special Projects at equalpride. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.

Read Full Bio

Tracy E. Gilchrist

June 22 2021 7:25 AM EST

October 31 2024 5:37 AM EST

Support The Advocate
LGBTQ+ stories are more important than ever. Join us in fighting for our future. Support our journalism.

One-time Monthly

$19.67 $50 Other

$5 $19.67 $50

The Cold War-era film Firebird, based on Sergey Fetisov's memoir The Story of Roman, will have its North American premiere at Frameline in San Francisco this Sunday. And The Advocate has an exclusive clip from the film.

It's the first feature from Estonian director Peeter Rebane. The synopsis for the lush film is as follows:

"Firebird follows Estonian private Sergey (Tom Prior), who is awaiting the end of his term in the Soviet air force in the late 1970s when he falls for Roman, a daring fighter pilot played by Oleg Zagorodnii. Both a Cold War thriller and a true story of a secret love, Rebane's feature highlights the steamy passions of young gay romance in an environment where expressing such feelings is lethal. The pair soon realize that pursuing this clandestine affair -- and even openly declaring their love for each other -- means risking their safety, Roman's career in the Soviet air force, and their relationship with their most beloved friend from the academy, Luisa (Diana Pozharskaya)."

Prior and Rebane (who is gay and has directed videos for Moby and the Pet Shop Boys) cowrote the script.

"Firebird is a touching and personal film for me, having grown up in Soviet-occupied Estonia, near the air force base where this true story took place," Rebane said when the film played BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival earlier this year. I was deeply fascinated at how such a forbidden love triangle [between Roman, Sergey, and Luisa] formed in the Soviet air force at the height of the Cold War. How they risked everything, even their lives, in order to be together with the one you love."