When Portico Media CEO Jay Lin (林志杰) founded the Taiwan International Queer Film Festival in 2014, he wanted to show Taiwanese and international audiences that there was more to the LGBT experience than images of buff shirtless men waving rainbow flags.
The festival, now in its third year, kicks off Saturday at Shin Kong Cinemas in Ximending (西門町) and lasts nine days, during which LGBT-themed features, shorts and documentaries from around the world will be screened.
Portico Media will also be sponsoring the first-ever Queermosa Awards on Oct. 28 at the W Taipei, a day before the annual LGBT Pride Parade. Categories include the “LGBT-friendly business award” and the “pioneer award” for an LGBT rights activist.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan International Queer Film Festival
Lin, who also serves as festival director, tells the Taipei Times that he’s aware of “snapshot representations of what it means to be LGBT,” and often times, these representations are indeed of buff men in skimpy clothes.
He recognizes that while Taiwan is touted for being one of the most gay-friendly — or possibly the most gay-friendly — country in Asia, much progress still needs to be made.
“In Taiwan especially, media coverage tends to revolve around pride parade and each year, it’s one iconic picture, one news video,” Lin says.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan International Queer Film Festival
LGBT identities are much more fluid and multi-layered, he says. By showing films that explore other aspects of the LGBT experience — films where the protagonist is going through a sex change or coping with an HIV diagnosis — Lin hopes that audiences will gain a greater understanding of what it means to be LGBT.
REEL TO REEL
Honesty is what the festival is striving for this year — this is a message that speaks volumes to Lin, who identifies as gay.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan International Queer Film Festival
“I’m 43 this year. I’m at a point in my life where I just need to be as real as possible — I can’t be one person in one setting and another person in another setting.”
Lin adds that he didn’t want to “play it too safe.” Films like Sodom’s Cat, for instance, pushes the envelope in terms of nudity and orgy scenes. He understands that such films may not appeal to certain audiences, either, which is why they will be screening films that they believe will have a much broader appeal.
“These films are all stories that could potentially influence and change someone’s heart and mind,” Lin says.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan International Queer Film Festival
For the three years that the festival has run, the themes have always included the word “love” (愛, ai) in the Chinese name. This year’s theme is “Let’s Connect.” In Chinese, it’s, “Let’s connect for the sake of love” (為愛連結, wei ai lian jie).
The concept of love is something we can all relate to, and films like Real Boy, which, according to Lin, “takes the context of the transgender movie to a broader scope,” demonstrates this.
The plot follows a teenage girl who undergoes surgery to become a boy and the mother’s struggle dealing with the transition. Ultimately, the message is about unconditional love told through parent-child dynamics — something which most parents should be able to relate to.
ESCHEWING LABELS
Lin says he tries to eschew labels and categorization. In fact, he wishes to see less distinction between LGBT films and “mainstream” films made in Taiwan. The US, he says, has TV series such as Will & Grace and Modern Family with gay protagonists, and Hollywood makes films like The Imitation Game where the main character, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, struggles with being gay.
“Are these mainstream shows or LGBT shows?” Lin asks. “Does it matter?”
He recognizes that this wish is still “a bit utopian.” But he hopes that films, in general, will evolve to better reflect the reality of human relations and interactions, especially the reality that no one person fits a neat mold or stereotype.
There are some Taiwanese films that are starting to do this. Huang Hui-chen’s (黃惠偵) The Priestess Walks Alone (我和我的T媽媽) depicts the dynamic between a woman and her lesbian mother, while Baby Steps (滿月酒), by Taiwanese-American filmmaker Barney Cheng (鄭伯昱), chronicles the journey of a gay, interracial couple as they try to find a surrogate mother to have their baby.
While it’s doubtful that Taiwan will spawn the next The Imitation Game-type film on LGBT people, Lin says the purpose of both the festival and the Queermosa Awards is to recognize that Taiwan’s advancements to the LGBT cause is also no small feat.
“Even though we still have a long way to go, we still need to take a step back and reflect on everything that we’ve achieved,” Lin says.
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