Our film team includes gay teenagers between 15 and 27 with different skills and professions. Some simply interested in fictional storytelling, others studying film or working in the industry. We all come together as part of a voluntary media project of colognes largest LGBT youth center – the anyway.
The project is entirely funded by generous donators who support our voluntary work.
KUNTERGRAU was brought to life because we – as young gay men – didn’t feel represented in the media landscape. We felt that we were talked about but not talked to. So we decided to create content we would have liked to see when we were younger: A web series that represents our concept of our own sexuality: natural, self-confident, outspoken.
We deeply believe that our generation is the one to form the future and we definitely will influence society’s perception of sexual minorities. Never before has a generation been so accepting of sexual orientations and hopefully one day we can leave the concept of „coming out“ behind.
Until then it is necessary for us to be visual.
KUNTERGRAU doesn’t turn homosexuality into a problem. It rather focuses on problems we all experience in one way or another. Topics like: first love, a broken heart, but also living with HIV, conflicts with parents, and sex work are portrayed in the series. With over 2.500.000 views on YouTube and audiences from all around the world we hope to reach out to those who need to be reminded that being different can be very normal.
Kai Kreuser
Director & Writer
Max Jonas Fohrbeck
Cinematographer
Andreas Köstler
Line Producer & Post Production
Max Kelm
Composer
The anyway was founded in 1998 as the first gay youth center in Europe and is visited by about 1,400 teenagers every year. The institution wants to give homosexual teenagers space to find and to develop their own confident personality. The main work is formed by the open meeting days at the café every week.
The average age is 19.5 years and teenagers come from all over the state. The different responsibilities supported by the anyway project serves to connect our members and to build confidence and essential skills: e.g. a capacity for teamwork, to act independently, to embrace differences, an ability to organize, etc. Finally, a central goal of the anyway project is to help form a community with different people and their characters.
The youth center, anyway, is a part of the anyway e.V. The organization is accepted as responsible of youth welfare services by the Stadt Köln according to section 75 SGBVIII, as well as a charitable and beneficent club.