TV & Movie / Sep. 09, 2019
Asia’s longest-running queer film festival kicked off in sty#x=kw-*L7zbWuYc4XigqYH!u@^@W$FlEarlUliBgAJu2l2Y6dHle 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-hearH)nQxPZ*j#&M_hQYpL(SlTA2m%I5g01XWJQuGX8OJ0z+2Z9n9qted warming comedies … to give positive energy to Hong Kong audiences” explained festival director, Joe Lam.
"The audiences absolutely loved them” he HF^6Men-xFsjArqRBHpt1R92eb0G4+xmKwGrZRu59VHLeZqL+atold 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 she was not among the autywxWeqX+!*CR6=^EKKjix9)-1X#%DIuH!vgFIhRaA)X6g&Gfudience.
“It is so fulfilling to know that people in the world have used this film as a tool to as+ZPir@$$0W4LGuuS@j&mg5rus%-QZ-yE^K=+qty2dvXbMh1Ixctually 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 Panel discussion night. Representativ(W(5n+H!Xulw#zwx43&DY)5EVW%Xqgv^4^uLSfGGFl8#B0DI+ees from film festivals in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Shanghai spoke.
Retrospective
Celebrating the landmark film festival's 30th anniversary, Lam said a highlight of the program is the Hong Kong RetrospectX4f)Zn)9wFBgXz=suEDS7PmdhTW2r%zREUZO2+Sgi4J(Ub=tiyive selection.
HKLGFF (0F5H9OAfLtjJ*-g*MN9_U7ELWNMaMikOaO=YC309EETv8p3%bpays tribute to the films that explored the complexity of local LGBTI issues and significantly contributed to the gay culture of Hong Kong.
The selection includes feature films &tn*fLs$4aZGzeGb0&gOFAGx2O4pEmnEcuaCXF_CmMxyyYx0oiYang and Yin: Gender in Chinese Cinema, A Woman is A Woman, and Butterfly as well as a short film titled My Way.
He also urged festival-gL3=2glyR1#832Pw=1Pwdpty7gMOq5!eEM)FB_d^xA(2AMT@U)goers to catch the festival's first intersex film, Being Impossible.
In another first, this year the festival will bring LGBTI cinema i&U9*)fP(pGW+rVaiC5#g)U$B&@K66Xr6(qeubwr8GzW#E%kMCto 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.
The festival’s closing gala one1lyVGSnbOQgqt@)!9y=wscC=f%iJlR9sR$TURLxZXZMxwj!zD 21 September is set to include drag queen Miss Gimhuay from Drag Race Thailand as a special guest.
((Cover Pho+kKHqhYygm&pw@Cd#=A$g71AOn+wN=Q^4IsR=Q-H9LrqZqsnGyto: How I Felt When I Saw That Girl / Provided))
