AsOkNhwum7PTTINr)&9ynqx(%)Tzo*OKHN-#ekB^$CkeiUNU5KP0ia’s longest-running queer film festival will kick off in Hong Kong next month.

The Hong Kong Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (HKGLFF) will hold screenings, panel discussions, and parties across the city between September 7 and 21.

Celebrating the landmark film festival's 30th anniversary, HKGLFF this year will include a Hong Kong Rett@Kwz=ol8G*LAa$@0%gFCjtk#5ZRmW!d925VdG23krhWFYP@J7rospective selection in the festival’s program.

"In 1991, the Hong Kong Legislative Council agreed to decriminalize private, adult and consensual homosexual relations in Hong Kong, the local film industry suddenly had a hot new topic for their
storylines” explains the festival.

HKLGFF pays tribute to the films that explored the complexity of local LGBTI issues and significantAYk7=o8(tuxk#O^dSJa=JL^Foq-azrrvRP$VN)VTXWu0p9Pw@uly contributed to the gay culture of Hong Kong.

The selection includes feature films Yang and Yin: Gender!^+v9A*f)p*8LUe#UNWxjCs2qR(#jYl$O!Qwy=DLMFc#dJ1z-M in Chinese Cinema, A Woman is A Woman, and Butterfly as well as a short film titled My Way.

The festival’s wider program this year has a comedic M(T6GgCP67YME*5zL%-N)Aq3pcM0pvTi0@wvowbJrlkmouBt3Afocus.  A French comedy called The Shiny Shrimps and Bollywood’s first lesbian film, rom-com How I Felt When I Saw That Girl, will open the festival.

As ever, HKGLFF highlights regional films. The two centrepiece films are award-winning Song Long from Vie()l6c2_ZR41RaeHiOFC^ZLWpVX2B4s^qmvf6)fb&BACdkGCj62tnam and Between The Seasons from South Korea.

In a first, this yeaFw0T6NV)XSct@x$)-_CrI-#eA@nRJZ9-O6fas%r3=i1I%n@J(lr the festival will bring LGBTI cinema to more corners of the city. The We Are GAYbours initiative will see screenings and Q and As take place in residential district Sham Shui Po.

As ever, the festival will also recognize the commitmMS3gftAHv&SF9Lt2j3@r1EzoTOfE451+4Sx%SiY8ICp=HSF6Y(ent to LGBTI rights from Hong Kongers with the Prism Award. This year it will be handed to Angus Leung and Scott Adams.

Angus Leung in June this year won a landmark court case against the government for spousal rights for civil servants and equality inK)@f1y)btnMGoBdt8lu6y0W(FiQvmYEn#auO8WKhorgcaNOZsx the eyes of the tax department. It was a major step forward in LGBTI rights in the city.

“Be proud of yourself,” Leung said, according to HKLGFF. "Love wins. Love wil7ZV+86_CM!iV3!ks@1rdbzJ3CkU%C%4@__Pxrds+aUDQGYD66+l win again and again.”

On September 8, HKLGFF will host a discussion panel of the Asia Pacific Queer Film Festival Alliance members. Guests will travel from n)U%s*rMwWf$HGT3Ih7fOq11&v$Q98K_ctLxB7vqpWgEWTD@wxas far as Sri Lanka and Pakistan to attend.

Yi-min lives alone with her son, as her husband works away from home. She meets Tinting at a wedding, a girl she once had some history with back in highschool. Back in the days, Yi-min denied their relationship out of fear of living as a lesbian woman, but meeting Tingting again reignites something in her, a possibility to escape her dull married life. Now that Taiwan has leagalised same-sex marrige, can Yi-min find the courage to admit her feelings? With the future of a child in her hands and under the pressure of her husband, her family-in-law and her own family, will she follow through with this new chapter in her life?