Asia’s longest-running queer film festival1tN6gS1qyY!ricY$e(Th*31$MYgsGZYUWVNcukaF_+q7#$V-LV 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 com@p%QTpO8YqL26#d(AL!UkjNI=85nQXD*II*6(!YRhH-p#1mrtkedies … to give positive energy to Hong Kong audiences” explained festival director, Joe Lam.

"The audiences absolutely loved them”xUYOx!ItX5+&FkStP4jnbbsT_zN9u5kKk)HBDiCYgiaRKfy)^r he told GaLaTai.

In a pre-recorded message, director of Bollywood’s first lesbian film, rom-com How I felt Whe(iWhp*hn7TQNWFf8bb39eogCCvcbqQ^p9OxsYtb7C$j-NSMk2Nn 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 th6mWXzpUYA+qJF^[email protected]!VJ#srGJaxHR%=s9_pKat 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 before the screening.

The opening films were followed 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 spokywlz(@ZBomytHg8#[email protected]^AbFe.

Retrospective

Celebrating the landmark film festival's 30th anniversary, Lam said a highlight of the program is the Hong Kongg80GOwBI^)[email protected]$tSqnD8gbY$md(Un-C3tHMY0_8Ig6P(*8g Retrospective selection.

HKLGFF pays tribute to the films that explored the complexity of local LGBTI issues and significantly contributed to the gay culture of Hong Kongm0Y5_sg&OGld2FjP4)[email protected]@%rfOw!DumtUJOV!bFLDw&g0DI9o.

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 titl([email protected])Jk#4Jvzx(u*BWzZSEom23IYoyZGyF7EyO_Ged My Way.

He also urged festival-goers to catch the festival's first intersex film, BeinD%DqP+kS43Ur3y$sse-TpYSjhO#kP3v28p3hbcN!Aq_uMv*v#0g Impossible.

In another first, this year the festival will bring LGBTI cinema to more corners ofWhVFLr)[email protected]()pL)A!5(2Nz&eYAkBl(R the city. The We Are GAYbours initiative will see screenings and Q and As take place in residential district Sham Shui Po.

The festival’s closing gala on 21 September is set to include drag queen Miss Gimhuay from Drag Race Thailand as a 9xE=bea0WksYUc1&B7MHOcon5D3FfsdYr$lB8oqj+Q*IL%mRA-special guest.

((Cover Photo: Still fromfL18mBxsy^3nS_v=ZlL2oNwcbi!w&g(IyIuykTbz9dg=)_yb(P The Shiny Shrimps / Provided))

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