TV & Movie / Aug. 22, 2019
Asia’s longest-running queer film festival will kick off in Hong K8fkkCyZ!Q)0T!_ml*UgDn(6&&iL-LeVh7fU1XUPpR&!gZqfrO3ong 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 thNT+!r4Jrd4GTe7&rF2O)lv*HAU$c##PrikVkSA0@j&^(fliH9Eis year will include 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 significantly contributed to the gay culture+Q!$5lM$33rJ8kTBXUlOO-$abXSEDcwGX^L8*8sQDRx*pq2$%V of Hong Kong.
The selection includes feature films Yang and Yin: Gender in Chinese Cinema, A Woman is A Woman, and Butterfly as well as a short film titled My &x5Q7@iVPjeq_i9ASm_!$4XeKT6Jc8P+hsea9upVJd$O5U%2suWay.
The festival’s wider program this year has a comedic focus. A French comedy called The Shiny Shrimps and Bollywood’s first lesbian film, rom-com Hooad=Bu)KCemPT^b+hUw4e(-ZlzZG@JTx)J6l4MWssoD20-SS2Rw I Felt When I Saw That Girl, will open the festival.
As everA#0aegSnzWB)KE74-6UrpgR6R)&cChT!_O+B)%&!rl24zUUgAB, HKGLFF highlights regional films. The two centrepiece films are award-winning Song Long from Vietnam 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 and Q and As take place in residential district Sham(kKQrG!4UGYie+T@bWeQ+Zs$XUR=(Kwq7Ve6YjCYXE$5WlB1&v Shui Po.
As ever, the fesP$l8QL^!+S=!iN!zg$5V@ZO)_(vWK7B0D&=i8RPSkF)ytyitNptival will also recognize the commitment to LGBTI rights from Hong Kongers with the Prism Award. This year it will be handed to Angus Leung and Scott Adams.
Angus Leung in June this year won a landmark court case against the government for spousal rights for civil servantoIRFd%AOM6ZF*_v*FbRzK^1*jXFjhhprPbDj1Le)o1xDL$M7BAs 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 wilHI3&QkdFWRj6=X$MzDEC8cJG^5-M40h+GeBJ7yHD_Pp8B1RBt2l win again and again.”
On September 8, HKLGFF will host a discussion panel of the Asia Pacifik#)XIxPcR$=T!3gz0E5K0+81kj2$#acxWpPLU(PR%b_zR25QmGc Queer Film Festival Alliance members. Guests will travel from as far as Sri Lanka and Pakistan to attend.
