Fifteen Taiwanese films are to be screened in cinemas across London later this month at the Queer East Film Festival, which is to showcase films from 15 Asian countries, its organizers have said.
The lineup of Taiwanese films includes the UK premiere of award winning director Zero Chou’s (周美玲) Secrets of 1979, a special presentation of the 1970 classic The End of the Track (跑道終點) by Mou Tun-fei (牟敦芾), and a number of short films and experimental works that showcase Taiwan’s vibrant queer culture, the organizers said.
Dear Tenant (親愛的房客) by Cheng Yu-chieh (鄭有傑) and Days (日子) by award-winning Taiwan-based Malaysian director Tsai Ming-liang (蔡明亮) are also to be screened during the second edition of the festival to be held from tomorrow to Sept. 26.
Photo courtesy of Taipei Film Festival via CNA
The festival aims to amplify the voices of Asian communities in the UK, and will focus this year on the topic of family, with Japan being chosen as the theme country, the organizers said.
“By showcasing films that challenge conventional understandings of family kinship, I hope to provoke a conversation about how we understand and interpret the meaning and formation of family, through an alternative queer lens, even when the films do not include obvious LGBT storylines,” said Taiwanese Wang Yi (王裔), festival director and programmer for Queer East.
Wang said that Taiwanese LGBTQ+ films cover a wide range of topics, such as cross-gender issues, adoption, surrogate mothers and Taiwan’s White Terror era.
This year’s festival will also feature panel discussions, with online participation from audiences around the world on Saturday, and Thursday and Saturday next week, the organizers said.
Chou, former Democratic Progressive Party legislator Yu Mei-nu (尤美女) and Vita Lin (林杏鴻), founder of the Taiwan International Queer Film Festival, are to be among the panelists sharing their experiences and stories with people across Asia, the organizers said.
Launched last year, the Queer East Film Festival seeks to facilitate a better understanding of the richness of queer Asian heritage and to bridge the cultural distance between the UK public and the Asian region, the festival’s organizers said.
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