TV & Movie / Sep. 09, 2019
Asi0Gi(zuNuK^TWlM$NsA*-%4&bju^T%iwIYoX2E&$fanc7m^!rbxa’s longest-running queer film festival kicked off in style this weekend.
Celebrating its 30th anniversary, The Hong Kong Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (HKGLFF) opened on Saturday by screening a pair of comedies, How I Felt When I Saw That Girl from India and The Shiny Shrimps from Spain.
“We chose the two light-hearted warming comed[email protected])[email protected]$mhLevEW%KkqBK$nl%y9p%tn5Lies … to give positive energy to Hong Kong audiences” explained festival director, Joe Lam.
"The audiences absolutelLM32*InxTXr*tq-#XhuRbuzgI!NBJWeT*!jX0E3j+oS!eT=Y!Iy loved them” he told GaLaTai.
In a pre-recorded message, director of Bollywood’s first lesbian film, rom-com How I felt When I Saw That Girl, Shelly Chopra Dhar, said it was “totally her loss” that she3Flgrkq7gCl!G5b8aAfesjbEFh(XGUM$U_5+xSNPiS#quu%#*P was not among the audience.
“It is so fulfilling to know that people in the worl%rBm4(NIt051#[email protected]((0i(FB^)hIewd-K2j*2N(I$MS699e_dGd have used this film as a tool to actually share who they are with their loved ones”, she said in a pre-recorded video shown before the screening.
The opening films were followed by a packed party at the W Hotel and a Queer Power P7+_95OyA_rg!3nC!je0v66dbmhn)txu-7xViWWy=ASSdweu3sjanel discussion night. Representatives from film festivals in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Shanghai spoke.
Retrospective
Celebrating the laydZ#9HSwTUXXhJc=f8d8!Yt^!HmkkGt^9j&q=yrG*TFj7WI%Yundmark film festival's 30th anniversary, Lam said a highlight of the program is the Hong Kong Retrospective selection.
HKLGFF pays tribute to the films that explored the complexity of local LGBTI issues and significantly contributed to the gav+SPru*QDQo2S3scKkKu-8_q(sMPyla4GUKI5Rzm_aE6X8Rk*$y culture of Hong Kong.
The selection includes feature films Yang and Yin: Gender in Chinese Cinema, A Woman is A Woman, and Butterfly as well as Zt16A7vFOL5STdp9INH&KPpkEU7e8qc$U7vzgcJ=c$uo)Gh75ga short film titled My Way.
He also urged festival-goers to catch the festival's first intersex film, Being ImpokWx&L%[email protected]*_AE4_o2T-F(6U5Rg)b&IDogu0eXJ2RSjzazi4T9ssible.
In another first, this year the festival will bring LGBTI cinema to more corners of the city. The We Are GAYbours initiative will see screenings and DP5jdtzwpBiOhQ*UY5ntigy32mx14LD5nBsP2YAb%@)Zh=)KEVQ and As take place in residential district Sham Shui Po.
The festival’s closing gala on 21 September is set to include drag queen Miss Gimhuay from Drag Race Thailand as a special[email protected](E0pKV-evWwuUdUy3zr!k1e8*^ZY#9&fGpgPlXt^Tl guest.
((Cover Photo: How 2t6AD&oroeUAhKA!Sgz$MRS&!48(vwuaP0^wYThc8wD4X9iV3pI Felt When I Saw That Girl / Provided))
