Feature-length documentary Wish Me Away is a personal and intimate look at Chely Wright, the first country music star to come out as gay. After a lifetime of hiding, she shatters cultural and religious stereotypes within Nashville, her conservative heartland family, and most importantly, herself.
Over a three-year period, award-winning filmmakers Bobbie Birleffi and Beverly Kopf followed Chelys struggle some of which was recorded on private video diaries and her unfolding plan to come out pu...
Feature-length documentary Wish Me Away is a personal and intimate look at Chely Wright, the first country music star to come out as gay. After a lifetime of hiding, she shatters cultural and religious stereotypes within Nashville, her conservative heartland family, and most importantly, herself.
Over a three-year period, award-winning filmmakers Bobbie Birleffi and Beverly Kopf followed Chelys struggle some of which was recorded on private video diaries and her unfolding plan to come out publicly. Using interviews with Chely, her family, key players in Nashville and her management team, the film goes deep into Chelys back story as an established country music star and then forward in verite scenes as she prepares to step into the media glare to reveal that she is gay. Finally, the film chronicles the aftermath of that decision in Nashville, her hometown and within the LGBT community.
Wish Me Away shows both the devastation of her own internalized homophobia, which led to Chely putting a gun in her mouth, and the transformational power of living an authentic life. It shows the struggles of being a Christian who happens to be gay, even within her own family. And it reveals how Dont Ask Dont Tell has found its way into the culture of Nashville.
Finally, performing before an LGBT audience of over 100,000, with the Capitol Building blazing behind her, we feel both the excitement and uncertainty of the future that awaits her. ~ Wish Me Away website
Director: Bobbie Birleffi and Beverly Kopf
Origin: USA
Length: 120 minutes
Sponsored by Mid-South Pride (www.midsouthpride.org)
See full schedule and purchase tickets at www.outflixfestival.org
