TV & Movie / Aug. 22, 2019
Asia’s longest-running queer film festival will kiAYQ*A8nCLFvG)A9A^D_WIK)ee&UBh#&0jZV8#fdMRJfB485ce+ck 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 betweenyQygTwry%ri^&cQJ@rluIyZkbV3ViST5@lJif^@jCzPzC8ogwa September 7 and 21.
Celebrating the landmark film festival's 30th anniversary, HKGLFF this year will inccb9CnT6(@2ifg(MmesXJeB&lu-kRC=4+FIYp-ULneRaglG!pYTlude a Hong Kong Retrospective 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 complexity of local LGBTI issues and significancL0IPeWN-j-_FelMHFUx7me$ZXr!%EmSFSR3cq^^zOu(C#H1I@tly contributed to the gay culture of Hong Kong.
The selection includes feature films Yang and Yin: Gender in Chinese Cinema, A Woman is A Woman, and ButterflrAFYZOAtQtM^v@=7@N0N&sZyEhNA=0llu)OuSo19e3flph_BPcy as well as a short film titled My Way.
The festival’s wider program this year has a comedic focus. A French comedy h@x9q_+VjOmcs7pq1kIa00ILN#7cs2e^Tj+4Y2-UULAd)ehzHCcalled The Shiny Shrimps and Bollywood’s first lesbian film, rom-com How I Felt When I Saw That Girl, will open the festival.
As ever, HKGLFF highlights regional films. The two centrepiece films are award-winning Song Long from Vietnam wE(xpDAlOK71u&5+fAdA)%6_U)Nfxz^wX6%SBAqC3HnHE0Hy3&and Between The Seasons from South Korea.
In a first, this year the festival will bring LGBTI cinema to more corners of the city. The We Are GAYbours ing*OHCiP1M0IIB*@WVn8MK&wUK6K3J0U17TvyOLu(=Ncrt8Uc%Mitiative will see screenings and Q and As take place in residential district Sham Shui Po.
As ever, the festival will also recognize the commitment MolgKz5+!B*e^Mtd@qG5qvHyNYou*0ocKnMzxaVZjpt!05ZW@8to LGBTI rights from Hong Kongers with the Prism Award. This year it will be handed to Angus Leung and Scott Adams.
Angus Leung in June this year won a landmarW27P8sJ8F0+U0jTwur5M8($GP#57^s(!269E%jdiq7(7*B#Nxkk court case against the government 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, according to HKLGFF. "Love wins. Love will wi=BY#6yM*H!#2&@%oboD^8b6rRb%fv7DRl^8S4_9V*z_E9yKJ_zn again and again.”
On September 8, HKLGFF will host a difTLLkfcHf_+z(9Lg%H%2sY=VsvYPlpSfg1qj^l3G!nmr3%OtKBscussion panel of the Asia Pacific Queer Film Festival Alliance members. Guests will travel from as far as Sri Lanka and Pakistan to attend.
