Lady T Recommends “Prince & Ekaj”

Good news – Haberdasher Theatre’s The Wizard of Oz has been fully funded, and Futuredazehas $1061 of its $1700 goal pledged with 22 days still to go.

The next project I’m recommending has a much larger goal of $30,000, but after reading the description and watching the video, I fully believe the end result will be well worth the money. The project is a film called Prince & Ekaj, about two gay Latino teenagers who strike up a friendship in New York City. Here is a link to the project: Prince & Ekaj the Movie. From the description:

“Prince & Ekaj is a story about two gay latino teenagers who are completely different from each other. One is a runaway teenager, and the other is a self-taught street hustler who spends his time roaming the streets of NYC at night looking for ways to make money. They both meet by chance and end up realizing that they depend on one another more than they think in a city that is full of crime, drugs, prostitution, and of course, hope.

In today’s society, there is a lot of hatred and bullying directed towards young teens who are attacked because they are gay, and we rarely hear or see what these kids have to go through on an every-day level just to be who they are. This story was truly inspired by all of these young gay hustler kids from New York City who struggle with these issues, but at the same time overcome them through perseverance.”

Why I’m recommending this project: This isn’t the kind of story that I see very often. Gay teenagers are underrepresented in the media and so are Latino teenagers, so seeing a story about gay Latino teenagers would be refreshing and new. I was also moved by the filmmaker’s comments about prostitution and sex crimes. I think many people are aware of the way girls and women are abused in this manner, but maybe not as aware of the way boys and young men can be equally victimized. I would really like to see this story about these characters developing a friendship. Please consider donating to this project or passing the word along to people you know.