Before the Syrian Civil War began, Syria's LGBTQ+ community was hopeful that government protests would entitle the community to equal rights as the rest of the Syrian people. 

However, these hopes were dashes as the LGBTQ+ community became not only the target of oppressive society, it became the target of nearly every fraction fighting Syria's fragmented civil war. 

Facing constant government crackdowns, atrocious human rights abuses at the hands of Daesh and other extremist groups, added to already existing persecutian and human rights abuses, Mr Gay Syria details the brave queer Syrians who made it to Istanbul. 

The independent film, directed by Ayse Toprak, succesfully raised its crowdfunding target of 35,000 euros to cover post-production and publication expenses.

"We wanted to show a side of the migration crisis that is rarely portrayed, steering away from the depictions of nameless masses by certain media and politicians. We made a film that could be understood at a human level - getting to know our characters' dreams and aspirations as well as their daily struggles," states the premise on its crowdfunding campagin.

Coproduction efforts were in process from filmmakers and producers in France, Germany and Turkey. The collaborative effort between Toprak and Mahmoud Hassino, produced this gem detailing a struggle for existence in a country which still cracks down on its queer community. 

Although queer Syrians fled a war were opposing sides would systematically target them, the film portrays the struggle of surviving a war but still living in an oppressive society. 

Hassino is the first LGBT blogger in Syria, who served as Toprak's interpreter whilst on assignment at the Turkish-Syrian border. The two decided to collaborate on the film, after Hassino's passion for showing the world that his community matters had an impact on Toprak.

The heroic films aims to show that the queer community deserve a voice and representation.

Mr Gay Syria is one of 50 films from 20 countries, that will screen in Australia's Antenna Documentary Film Festival in October.