The Most Hateful Small Town

A Documentary By Indie Filmmaker Lawrence Ferrara

The disturbing increase in hate crimes in this country has prompted indie filmmaker Lawrence Ferrara to introduce his documentary short, The Most Hateful Small Town? This new film bursts onto the film festival circuit with a sense of urgency, premiering in Chicago at the Reeling International LGBTQ+ film festival on September 28th, right on the heels of one of the most heinous white supremacy hate crimes in our country.

Ferrara, a passionate director, originally planned to film a speech in Harrison, Arkansas, but had no idea what was in store. His intention was to document the story of a survivor of the Oklahoma City bombing, but because of his involvement in the LGBT community, he was dropped from the project. The would-be subject of his documentary explained that “after prayerful thought to Jesus” she was not able to participate. “Being a gay man from Cambridge, Massachusetts, one of the most liberal, diverse cities in America and home to Elizabeth Warren, “I experienced a culture shock,” says the award-winning director. But the bigger shock was yet to come.