The Hong Kong Lesbian and Gay Film Festival to celebrate 30th year

Asia’s longest-ruZW@^$ug8ZlF9gzbhbH@J$-1dMcJpTKnCTAnWoL@Bxa)HhH)J$4nning queer film festival will kick off in Hong Kong next month.

The Hong Kong Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (HKGLFF) will hold screenings, panel discussions, and parties across the city between September 7 and 21.

Celebrating the landmark film festival's 30th anniversary, HKGLFF this year will include a Hong Kong RetT(&EBDO6N)9xBEYaYylt=cH3!1Rq(6sfDN*ANrTH-oBq=x&ctVrospective selection in the festival’s program.

"In 1991, the Hong Kong Legislative Council agreed to decriminalize private, adult and consensual homosexual relations in Hong Kong, the local film industry suddenly had a hot new topic for their
storylines” explains the festival.

HKLGFF pays tribute to the films that explored the compleMMkQ@$x6#-09K@h+%u5BiCKDSr%iSD9DrM6z5jmTYh&^c4xQfSxity of local LGBTI issues and significantly contributed to the gay culture of Hong Kong.

The selection incluHGjk%N+DD6DhgF7!O&OEAVpb=NE#nHtgGAq98GY!1A#M!U#JlGdes feature films Yang and Yin: Gender in Chinese Cinema, A Woman is A Woman, and Butterfly as well as a short film titled My Way.

The festival’s wider program this year has a comedic focus.  A French comedy called The Shiny Shrimps and BollywooLeI^aE8QSQT)FJ!G9)L)d8d9z#N2w)p*C$lkzMJYA=oD8LxaP5d’s first lesbian film, rom-com How I Felt When I Saw That Girl, will open the festival.

As ever, HKGLFF highlights regional films. The two centrepiece films are award-winning Song Long from VietnamMS*QzlMT!TYZ)H5Mnx+oc*YT9on7xOcVoT*PY+KLaK!Z1W*Fd= and Between The Seasons from South Korea.

In a first, this year the festival will bring LGBTI cinema to more corners of the city. The We Are GAYbours initiative will see screenings aKNuVe0ed&H)qPwLi#@j0*ya1&_Td-1$n1&tv!@PU3F#deRu4Qend Q and As take place in residential district Sham Shui Po.

As ever, the festival will also recognize the commitment to ao5V()6-$aS$bC5mM$U9cCYMHm^1yVxgxA7OJKgFyfT9xJm_&4LGBTI rights from Hong Kongers with the Prism Award. This year it will be handed to Angus Leung and Scott Adams.

Angus Leung in June this year won a landmark court case against the governmeLr1sh%v=Z8E&&!NVF%l09EKQ7#n#)B*bZA1TxMK9RruMy0jBujnt for spousal rights for civil servants and equality in the eyes of the tax department. It was a major step forward in LGBTI rights in the city.

“Be proud of yourself,” Leung said, accordinFvBUpMDVZQjH$QsR@CHNJPnToL)PUs=mQ6ZmnJt5yN&IDfF%f6g to HKLGFF. "Love wins. Love will win again and again.”

On September 8, HKLGFF will host a discussion panel of the Asia Pacific Queer Film Festival Alliance members. Guests will travel S^n*n^(n9hr_y3T)28&lk1XBa4qpc6NeFI_G8dEzGw(aAXb8=Ofrom as far as Sri Lanka and Pakistan to attend.