The Fruit Machine

Genre: Documentary, TVO

LGBT members of the Canadian Armed Forces, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the Federal Public Service were systemically discriminated against for over four decades – by their own employer, the Canadian Government. This shameful campaign, now known as the LGBT Purge, began in the 1950s and lasted until 1992. Thousands of men and women had their privacy invaded and their careers ruined. They were interrogated, threatened, and manipulated. Many suffered psychological effects, some took their own lives. It was the largest bullying campaign in Canada’s history.

The Fruit Machine focusses on first-person survivors of the LGBT Purge. Survivors from both the Canadian Armed Forces and the Federal Public Service share their personal stories of discrimination. Supporting these survivors are key voices of corroboration. These voices include a journalist who was embedded with the RCMP during the Purge, as well as respected queer activists, writers, scholars, community leaders, and the lawyer who represented members in the LGBT Purge class action lawsuit which delivered the largest settlement for LGBT historical discrimination in the world ($145 million).

The film was developed and produced concurrent to the survivors search for justice and captures key events including the historic national apology by Prime Minister Trudeau to the survivors of the Purge in 2017.

The Fruit Machine was nominated for a 2019 Canadian Screen Award for Best Documentary, Best Documentary with the Writers Guild of Canada, and a Canadian Association of Journalists Award for Best Human Rights Reporting. The film enjoyed an international film festival tour, securing Jury and Audience Awards for Best Documentary Film.

For distribution inquiries, including licensing opportunities for workplace Positive Space initiatives, please email distribution@sandbayentertainment.com