An alternative film festival

A bold new wave of Taiwanese gay filmmakers is set to make a splash at the First Taiwanese Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (熱不拉G:同志影像二輪放映) beginning this weekend at Taipei's Huashan Arts District.

The festival, which is actually the second following a small-scale festival last year held in a handful of gay bars, will feature 11 movies, eight of which were made by local filmmakers with the remaining three coming from the US.

"We chose Huashan so that it doesn't just attract the gay community. We hope that anyone would feel welcome to come out this time," said Lee Hsiang-ru (李湘茹), head of the festival's organizing committee.

As another way to attract a crowd, the festival has placed its focus on the recent works of Taiwanese filmmakers, who are quickly adding to a small, yet significant stock of locally made gay films.

Two of the highlights among the full-length films will be Jofei Chen's (陳若菲) Incidental Journey (海角天涯) and Corner by the director simply named Zero. Incidental Journey tackles the larger themes of life and destiny, while Corner is an atmospheric celebration of the small pleasures of human interaction or lack thereof in the setting of a lonely bar.

Five short films by young Taiwanese filmmakers offer some stylistic and thematic variety that shows the broad-ranging concerns of local gay filmmakers. Most, however, are deeply personal and confined to the emotional worlds of one or two characters.

Adding crucial weight to the content of the festival will be the three films from the US. Barbara Hammer's The Female Closet is a documentary about the lives and loves of three women in the last century. First is Alice Austen, the famous photographer who was an open lesbian living with her lover Gertrude in New York. The film then moves on to the relationship between the German artist Hannah Hoch and her partner Til Brugman. Hammer, who has made more than 50 films, is best known for her 1995 award-winning film Nitrate Kisses.

Easily the crowd-pleaser of the festival will be Golden Threads, a documentary by Lucy Winer about an octagenarian lesbian named Christine Burton who started her own personals and match-making service called Golden Threads while in her 70s after being rejected by a dating service on account of her age. The film chronicles Burton's organization's ninth anniversary weekend-long celebration.

Films start at 7:30pm on Fridays and 7pm on Saturdays and Sundays starting today for the next two weekends. For additional screening information, visit Acer ticketing on the Web at http://ticket.acer121.com. Tickets are also available at Eslite and Senseio bookstores, Fnac, and at Novel Hall (新舞台).