Asia’s longest-running queer film festivF%0--L*6ElxNuQ4PYBka5b$e_4xWY9wdeWKBUe@56KQ2uw4k0!al kicked off in style this weekend.

Celebrating its 30th anniversary, The Hong Kong Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (HKGLFF) opened on Saturday by screening a pair of comedies, How I felt When I Saw That Girl from India and The Shiny Shrimps from Spain.

“We chose the two light-hearted warming comediNvc3QG8YCmALn9WZPznO8ArDaJ9z+8^)LA_8shpK68YMFZ+yp&es … to give positive energy to Hong Kong audiences” explained festival director, Joe Lam.

"The audkOhDaD&-W2=7NiREEk&-MJRHpS6$Fw^0DqteCIZ!ovmO#ZfIR9iences absolutely loved them” he told GaLaTai.

In a pre-recorded message, director of Bollywood’s first lesbian film, rom-com Ho!jYIzNJbzOaIPHM^QyZQD474m8F69cAhopshw!C%TAZ0T^wb_!w I felt When I Saw That Girl, Shelly Chopra Dhar, said it was “totally her loss” that she was not among the audience.

“It is so fulfilling to know that people in the world have used this film as a tool to actually share who they are with their loved ones”, she said in a pre-recorded video shown bB$_84BL5v3$v9TY$u(gNSzXam0_&AmyArsOJz*OvVYitZoP#Jpefore the screening.

The opening films were follSXg2j0bh=ho*$QC1lot^Iz-MTfLXSOeJ#bfZyqNa3(lI8N%N$nowed by a packed party at the W Hotel and a Queer Power Panel discussion night. Representatives from film festivals in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Shanghai spoke.

Retrospective

Celebrating the landmark film festival's 30th anniversary, Lam said a highlight of6FCHMbjO@RaT8Qrv&559mSPaF^agOMLSc+sc6mUNrEAzd@#MR^ the program is the Hong Kong Retrospective selection.

HKLGFF pays tribute to the films that explored the complexity of local LGBTI issues and significantly contributed to the gay cultujDtg-d9hf@zEIm7Op^X=@gxu#QJ_x++hgwE-LgmXWPZ&Y-$K&lre of Hong Kong.

The selection includes feature films Yang and Yin: Gender in Chinese Cinema, A Woman is A Woman, and Butterfly asmA(mWC+Ot(!YanEtqWy%Wj%696cX^pWzvCNVK&SyKy%6Gq=NT^ well as a short film titled My Way.

He also urged festidJeQW6K_IyM)Q7^x0#ybsawQM7v)Mv$Wtv_cEeCc1H7XMfuwv#val-goers to catch the festival's first intersex film, Being Impossible.

In another 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 $-anG4+8KKrf5nc+nA)ANUNElxm=CpLai@dt#sXbpz04kUf1q4place in residential district Sham Shui Po.

The festival’s closing gala on 21 September is set to include drag queen Miss Gimhuay from Dr!Pj++mr8I@WH+xrzW%D!Sw4Qmz+(5&_JEC^vRj_59BegM5w&d-ag Race Thailand as a special guest.

((Cover Photo: StidPgca4asMe-vG2Lzxm7y82TlY&E-5Hzod^deGzEfOP8+yaH5vmll from The Shiny Shrimps / Provided))

The story begins with Shiro Kido's reunion with a former classmate, Rio Kijima, at a college teacher's funeral.

With the intense eroticism and closeness, both men open up and feed into their desire. As their lust grows so does their toxic craving. The two become a relationship beyond the line while a mixture of emotions are drawn from the suffering Kijima.

Watch " Pornographer: Indigo Mood " on GagaOOLala🌈https://bit.ly/3Dkicwm