Topics / Sep. 11, 2018
With the increasing visibility of the LGBT community in Asia, queer-related titles are more and more common, especially in the more conservative Chinese market. In recent years, many queer film and television works have been launched helping promote gender and sexual equality. The following five lesbian short films take a deeper look at the sexual constraints that exist in today's traditional society. And the decidedness and commitment of a lesbian woman.
1. Girls Love
The BL web series Addicted, released at the beginning of last year, was a big hit. The story about young high school gay boys quickly went viral. In addition to help giving more visibility to the LGBT community, it also speeded up the production of new queer content. Recently, China has launched a new lesbian short. "The wrong sex is good," Girls Love.
This film stars Chinese popular tomboy Miller, and the actor and producer He Jiaying. After its release, it was listed one of the top searched terms in China. The story focuses on an innocent young girl and a dominant warmhearted handsome tomboy. In addition to the main romantic story, Girls Love also explores the challenges faced by homosexuals in the mainstream heterosexual society, such as the shackles of traditional gender stereotypes and patriarchal issues.
2. The Summer Time
The handsome internet star, Lin Zijun, plays the main character in this independent short film. It reached 0.5 million views within the first 3 days. She has become a cult actress for niche short films.
The director affirmed during the interview that, although this age everyone has been discussing free love, the social constraints continue to suppress people. Different belief systems and mindsets from parents are holding young people's love back.
The Summer Time was not only screened in the United States, it also participated in several international film festivals.
3. Wishing for Happiness
This short film was released at the same time with the album Wishing for Happiness by Rainie Yang, who also plays the main role in the film. It tells the story of a bisexual girl, which is rare to see. Perhaps in the eyes of homosexuals, bisexuals are often blame as “not true to oneself” or “players”. Therefore, the director specifically used bisexuality as the theme of the movie. He hopes to show their struggle and break up the stigma that bisexual have when facing same sex and opposite sex. Bisexuals need to face the social pressure under their flow of emotions.
Rainie Yang, who has already participated in many LGBT-related performances, has a new challenge taking up the role of a bisexual woman.
4. Girls Who Talk to Flowers
Girls Who Talk to Flowers is a short film released by Chinese online dating app Rela. A young model called Guangzi plays the role of a handsome biker girl, and the popular Rela host, Zhu Hanyan, plays a beautiful plant shop owner.
Thanks to the appeal of the two main actresses, it gained high popularity.
The main character feels lonely and bored, so she uses the online dating app Rela to find her soulmate. She accidentally finds out that her close cousin also likes girls. Moreover, she will find out that her soulmate and her cousin have a shared past.
Up and coming model, Na Guangzi / Source: UM Webzine
Elegant host Zhu Hanyan / Source: 老男人
5. X-LOVE
“If I were a boy, would you love me?”
To homosexuals, dating requires courage and confidence. Another short from Rela, X-LOVE, talks about an experience many tomboys share. They fall in love with a heterosexual girl but do not have the courage to tell her. Moreover, many girls that they have been dating throw away their youth and step into family life, get married and have children under the pressure of traditional society. Therefore, this film makes a point to express the uncertainty and not knowing where the end of their relationship is. Together we see the struggle and powerlessness of gay’s love stories.
