Gay feature Tale of the Lost Boys has been touring around some of the most important queer film festivals in the world this year, enjoying a warm critical reception. into the major international film festivals. The film tells the story of two men: a straight man from the Philippines and a gay aboriginal from Taiwan.

Alex, a teenage mechanic from the Philippines, comes to Taiwan to find out about his lost mother’s whereabouts. One day, he meets Jerry, an Atayal man working at a bar in Taipei, and the two soon become good friends. Alex encourages Jerry to return to his tribe a confess to his parents his true self – an experience that will make Alex reflect on his own family situation. A straight and a gay man, they open their hearts to each to be able to walk together towards a more accepting future.

Tale of the Lost Boys has recently been screened in Taiwan and audiences had the chance to meet and ask questions to the actors (Soda Voyu and Joe Black Chou), producer (Jay Lin) and director of the film (Joselito Altarejos). A post-film talk where we could learn more about the actor’s secret preparation techniques and the director’s creative process.

Moderator: Why did you team up a gay and a straight man in this film?
Director Joselito Altarejos: In queer films we often see two men falling in love, but I think we should show how straight men and gays can have pure friendships, how we simply get along with each other. In the same way, gay men can also be friends with other gay men, it is not only about sex.

Moderator: Soda, as an aboriginal from the Tsou community, can you share with us how is the situation for the LGBT aboriginal community?
Soda Voyu: There’s a lot of queer aboriginal people, especially in the Paiwan community. Gay men are usually more effeminate within this community. This does not mean that there’s no queer people in other communities, but most of the queer aboriginals I know are from the Paiwan clan. The majority of the aboriginal gay people are girls. When I was auditioning for this role I mostly imitated the way girls acted. The director, however, after seeing it he asked me if I could just act normally. This film was a great inspiration for me, we are taught since we are born that boys should date girls, but we have to fight these prejudices, and we already have for a long time, almost a lifetime. We need to understand that there are no differences in love, love is always right.

Moderator: Soda, your part is mostly in English, how the use of a foreign language affected your performance in this film?
Soda Voyu: It’s really hard, English is not a language that we use often. I spent a lot of time getting used to its pace and I tried my best to make it sound as natural as possible. In reality, my English is not that good but in the film it looks pretty good. I have to thank the director for that.

Audience member: Director, why did you choose a straight and a gay man for this journey? Why not the story of adju (girl friendship in aboriginal language) between a gay man and the girls in the community? I was more curious to find about the dynamics in this type of relationship.
Joselito Altarejos: In my opinion, gay movies should start moving towards diversity and untiy. I want to shoot universal-themed films that everyone can relate to, not just LGBT people. We are not living separated in a bubble. In real life, gay people live with heterosexuals. Therefore, we must be inclusive.
Producer Jay Lin: I think this movie breaks away from many preconceptions. For example, it is a Taiwanese film, but we use English, Filipino, Atayal and Chinese languages. Another breakthrough is the portrayal of gay and straight men as very close friends.

Audience member: I would like to ask the director why he decided to use as the last shot of the film an image of the main character at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. Is it because of the similar political situations in the Philippines and Taiwan?
Joselito Altarejos: We do have some studies that have linked the traditions and culture of different ethnic groups from Taiwan and the Philippines. I hope this movie reveals these hidden connections. And the other reason is that the character just found out he is an abandoned child, and he is standing in front of Freedom Square but, still, he is not really aware of his inner freedom.
Jay Lin: I just want to share one anecdote regarding how fate connected us with the Leshui tribe. While Joselito and I were scouting for locations for the film throughout Yilan, we were also on the lookout for a family that could appear in the film. When we passed through the Leshui tribe I had to make a stop to use the bathroom. Then, I met this great woman, very friendly. We sat together and, then, his mother, uncle and father came. We ate, sang and enjoyed ourselves. In the end, when we left that place we realized that was the family we had been looking for. It was fantastic encounter.
Joselito Altarejos: That experience is what we needed, we wanted to feel as part of a community. There, we felt as if we belonged to a family, that was our Yilan home, they are my Yilan family.

Tale of the Lost Boys is currently available on GagaOOLala.

Trailer:

 

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