Richard Kern's Queer Makeout Spectacular

Russian Kiss by Annie, featuring Bjarne Melgaard

After reading the long-winded press release for the video above, I realized the message behind it would be more poignant if it were summed up in a few sentences, like the following: In some parts of the world, members of the LGBT community are being denied their fundamental human rights. In order to raise awareness of the issue, Norwegian songstress Annie and artist Bjarne Melgaard collaborated on a short film about "the right to kiss one’s beloved—regardless of sexual orientation—wherever one likes." Naturally, they took their idea to Richard Kern (who just so happened to shoot something along the same lines for VICE's brand-new fashion issue) so he could direct it. The result is Russian Kiss, which depicts young gay and lesbian couples swapping spit. Take that, Mr. Putin.

Director: Richard Kern
Stylist: Miyako Bellizzi
Casting: Annette Lamothe-Ramos
Music Production: Richard X
Director of Photography: Kevin Hayden
Editor: Jim Demuth