Queergurus' pick of MUST SEE MOVIES @ Hong Kong Lesbian & Gay Film Fest

When we saw newsreel footage of enormous lines of people in Hong Kong this week we thought for one fleeting moment that maybe they were buying tickets for the upcoming Hong Kong Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. Of course in fact they were waiting to show respect for the Queen by signing the Condolance Book at the British Embassy,

Hong Kong was a British colony for 156 years before the territory was returned to Beijing’s rule in 1997. While some objected to British colonial life so many others yearn for the old days especially now that the Authorities in Beijing are cracking down on democracy in HK

The Hong Kong Lesbian & Gay Film Festival is the longest-running LGBT film festival in Asia and it’s about to have its 33rd Edition. It’s diverse and eclectic that covers so much of the queer spectrum reflecting how universal LGBTQ+ films have become as it includes many of the current hot European and American movies regardless of what they think in Beijing!

Queerguru has scoured the entire program and these are our
TOP PICKS OF MUST SEE MOVIES

Chrissy Judy takes a poignant dive into what our friendships do for us – in particular those that involve our queer chosen families. Chrissy (Wyatt Fenner) and Judy (Todd Flaherty) are best friends and have been performing drag together for a while, mostly to rather disinterested audiences in New York City and Fire Island. They’ve both recently turned thirty years old and this milestone has triggered Chrissy into reevaluating his life and priorities. He decides to quit performing drag and to move in with his boyfriend Shawn (Kiyon Spencer) who lives in Philadelphia, and transfer his day job there too.

Todd Flaherty has written, directed, and stars in this film, which is beautifully shot in black and white. Strong art direction, cinematography, and good casting with some handsome men complement an often witty script. The overall message here is that our chosen families, although very important, alone usually won’t give us the full life we want. We need to search out and create relationships, careers, housing opportunities, and all the other elements that make up a nourishing life ourselves.

PS You may also like to check out Queerguru’s interview with Todd Flaherty https://queerguru.com/todd-flaherty-talks-about-his-directing-debut-chrissy-judy-that-everyone-else-is-now-talking-about-too/

It’s been some 7 years since filmmaker Jean Carlomusto made her superb Emmy Nominated doc Larry Kramer in Love and Ange r . Now she is back with Esther Newtom Made Me Gay the story of a butch lesbian, octogenarian athlete, and groundbreaking scholar whose life’s work has influenced generations of LGBTQ activists and scholars. The film tells her story of awakening to gay life in the 1950s, the women’s liberation movement and lesbian-feminism, drag culture and forging a butch identity which for her is now in conversation with trans-masculinity.

Alli Haapasalo’s Girl Picture throws a bucket of emotions into the air and seems them beautifully land a la Jackson Pollock on a canvas of Finnish adolescent sexuality.It s the story of three young women coming of age captured on three separate Fridays. Each of the young women is trying to resolve an inner conflict. Ronnko (Eleonoora Kauhanen) is desperate to connect to her sexuality, which, while definitely heterosexual has yet to find practical satisfaction. Emma (Linnea Leino) is an aspiring figure skating champion who finds that the discipline of competition is overwhelming her sense of self. Mimmi (Aamu Milinoff) is feeling angry, displaced and abandoned as her mother starts to build a new family.

We got hooked on Matt Carter’s debut feature ‘In From The Side”. the moment we discovered that the film explores life on and off the pitch at a gay rugby club. When Mark (Alexander Lincoln), a new and inexperienced rugby club member, finds himself drawn to Warren (Alexander King), a seasoned first-team player there is simply no turning back despite the alpha masculinity of all the other players.

Brit writer Russell T Davies, the creator of the iconic LGBTQ series Queer as Folk has a brand new powerful AIDS Drama

“It’s a Sin” follows the lives of Ritchie Tozer (Olly Alexander) a gay teenager who moves to London in 1981. It is the very early years of the AIDS pandemic and he and his friends navigate life, love and loss as the horrors of the crisis begin to unfold. Talking about the new series Davies said of “It’s A Sin: “I lived through those times, and it’s taken me decades to build up to this. And as time marches on, there’s a danger the story will be forgotten. So it’s an honor to write this for the ones we lost, and the ones who survived.”

Right after seeing the preview trailer of Fire Island and before we talked with director Andrew Ahn we knew this was a no-brainer. This delightful and intoxicating film written by (and starring) Joel Kim Booster is without question THE queer rom-com of the summer.

Borrowing heavily from (the unwed) Jane Austen and her Pride and Prejudice, this tale of looking for Mr. Right in one week on the queer paradise that is Fire lsland hits all the right buttons for all romantic gay men. And others I should add. Based on Booster’s own annual trips to the Island it avoids the pitfalls of the usual cliches of other queer comedies. Instead, we end up with this ensemble piece that is not afraid to make a few punches that often shatter the idyllic peace, thus keeping it all too real at times.

Germany’s pernicious Paragraph 1675, was part of the German Criminal Code from 15 May 1871 to 10 March 1994. It made homosexual acts between males a crime, and in early revisions, the provision also criminalized bestiality as well as forms of prostitution and underage sexual abuse. All in all, around 140,000 men were convicted under the law

Great Freedom, an incisive and excellent film that is part prison drama and part love story from Austrian filmmaker Sebastian Meise tells the tale of one gay man’s incarceration that on and off lasted for several decades. Based on real events, we see Hans (Franz Rogowski) in 1945 after the end of WW2 being transferred from a Concentration Camp to a civilian prison after having been caught having sex with a man in a public toilet. It’s a habit that he will have trouble breaking even in the future, which will result in him serving almost continual prison sentences.

Winner of 19 Awards, including Un Certain Regard Jury Prize at Cannes, and was Austria’s Official Submission for Academy Award for Best Foreign Picture

The opening scene of Lonesome resembles a Hollywood Western as our protagonist Casey (Josh Lavery) keeps pace with the sun while running away from his reality. He dons a cowboy hat and the classic blue jeans and white T-shirt combo that immediately endow him with an eye-candy-cum-rebellious persona. His face has the sharpness as well as the vulnerability of youth. Staying true to his young age, he doesn’t miss a chance to sleep with men, even at his lowest moments. His story is that of a rural gay man making his way into the big city. However, what he lacks is hope. His only redeeming quality is his libido. Lonesome treads familiar territory but is boosted by the decadent charm of Josh Lavery and the director’s reluctance to hold back during the ‘depraved’ moments of the narrative. DL.

Since 1996 when East Palace, West Palace was the first Mainland Chinese movie with an explicitly homosexual theme was released, there have been very few films to follow its lead. Like with MONEYBOYS it is deemed too unsafe to make Chinese queer film actually in situ, so filmmakers such as Taiwan/Austrian C.B. Yi use Taiwan as a stand-in location.

C.B. Yi’s film shines a light on the less explored area of LGBTQIA+ issues in China which may surprise much of his audience. This is a love story set against a background of survival which for many young men …… gay and straight ……is hustling. It gives these boys born in rural villages a way out of the basic poverty-stricken their families lead.

THE SWIMMER : Erez, a talented young Israeli swimmer, is one of five swimmers selected for a special residential training camp. The swimmers are in competition with each other and the winner will be chosen to join the Israeli Olympic swimming team. Erez (Omer Perelman) meets the beautiful, muscular Nevo (Asaf Jonas), a fellow swimmer at the camp, who slowly awakens subconscious homosexual desires in Erez. However, they both have girlfriends and also have a tough Russian swimming coach (Dima) who does not want the competitors to have friendships with each other. Dima warns Erez to stay away from Nevo, but Erez can’t help himself. Erez and Nevo hang out together at the camp when not training and Erez clumsily attempts to act upon his feelings.

HONG KONG Lesbian & Gay Film  Fest will begin on 
9/17 and end on 10/2 To see the whole program and 
book tickets  check out http://www.hklgff.hk/

For the full reviews of these films and over 1500 
other queer movies check out 
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