The first Asian Lesbian Film and Video Festival (ALFF) (
Organized by the Gender and Sexuality Rights Association Taiwan (
In view of current European- and US-centric trends whereby a lot of works made by Asian women focusing on their historical and cultural experiences are circulated outside Asia and in the West, ALFF intends to build up an independent channel for the dissemination of comparative perspectives on sexual-political issues.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF ASIAN LESBIAN FILM AND VIDEO FESTIVAL
The organizers have vowed to alter the "imagined" images of Asian lesbians seen in most Western discourses by voicing "real" and diverse Asian experiences dramatically different from those of their Western counterparts.
The festival has lined-up 31 films including features,
documentaries, experimental works from Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia, among other Asian countries.
All the films are divided into six topical programs. These include a look at issues ranging from sexual/gender formation and identification, lesbian desire and sex, violence and social injustice, individual and collective experiences in the course of post/neo-colonial, capitalistic modernization, family values and patriarchal oppression and subversion of the mainstream.
Teaming up with the Center for Asia-Pacific/Cultural Studies, National Tsing Hua University, the festival will also arrange panel discussions, workshops and lectures held by invited artists and scholars to further explore the socio-cultural issues relating to gender and sexuality in inter-Asian context.
Those eager to participate in this event but who live outside Taipei, fear not. The festival will go on tour to central and southern Taiwan between September and December, and there are plans for screenings in China, Hong Kong and the Philippines next year.
Invited filmmakers from various Asian countries will also be present in Taipei for question-and-answer sessions after the screenings. Most of the works have both Chinese and English subtitles, with the exception of around eight films. Ticket price ranges from NT$180 to NT$200, available through http://www.artsticket.com.tw.
For more information, go to http://alff2005.gsrat.net, or call (02) 8251 0105.
Event Notes
What: Asian Lesbian Film and Video Festival
Where: Spot -- Taipei Film House, 18, Zhongshan N Rd, Sec 2, Taipei
When: Today until Aug. 10
Tickets: NT$180 to NT$200
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