Director Huang Hui-chen’s (黃惠偵) 2016 documentary Small Talk (日常對話) is among several Taiwanese films featured in an online program titled “QE: HomeSexual” organized by London’s Queer East Film Festival.
The inaugural edition of the London festival was to open on Saturday last week and run through May 2.
However, organizers on March 23 announced that they were postponing it following closures of public venues across the UK amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
QE: HomeSexual began on Saturday last week in its place.
In addition to Small Talk, which won a Teddy Award for best documentary at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2017, the online series is also presenting “Made in Taiwan” — a collection of four short films “celebrating Taiwan’s rich tradition of LGBTQ+ filmmaking,” organizers said.
The four films, which have a combined runtime of 94 minutes, are Yu Jhi-han’s (游智涵) Gentleman Spa (癡情馬殺雞), Li Yan-xun’s (李彥勳) Tidal (潮汐), Lian Kien-hui’s (練健輝) Encore (再演一齣戲) and Wang Jia-yao’s (王嘉耀) 100 Apples (蘋果男孩).
The Summer of 12 (泳隊), When Mom Visits (當媽媽來敲門), Shall We Dance? (來跳舞吧) and Between Us (我們之間), directed by Kuo Kuan-ling (郭冠伶), Chang Chiung-wen (張瓊文), Chen Pin-ru (陳品儒) and Wang Pin-wen (王品文) respectively, are in another shorts program titled “She/Her.”
All proceeds from the online program are to go to all of the independent theaters that are partners of the festival, they said.
“Taiwan has witnessed a proliferation of movies and documentaries concerning gender and marriage rights,” Taipei Representative Office in the UK Cultural Division Director Chen Pin-chuan (陳斌全) said in a statement via the Ministry of Culture.
While the postponement of the London festival is unfortunate, moving the screenings online has provided an opportunity to reach a wider audience, he said.
The cultural division has partnered with organizers to present a section titled “Focus Taiwan” in the festival, highlighting films such as The Wedding Banquet (喜宴) by Ang Lee (李安) and Turning 18 (未來無恙) by Ho Chao-ti (賀照緹).
Organizers were “looking for alternative dates later in the year” to host the London event, organizer Wang Yi (王裔) said in a statement.
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