London-based QUEER EAST is one of Queerguru’s favorite LGBTQ+ film festivals. This annual event showcases rarely-seen queer cinema from East and Southeast Asia. Seeking to amplify the voices of Asian communities in the UK, the festival explores the forces that have shaped the current queer landscape in Asia, and aims to encourage more inclusive narratives.
By showing films that people might not otherwise get a chance to see, we can provide a platform for under-represented Asian and diasporic communities to share their history, stories and what it means to be Asian and queer today. Advancing LGBTQ+ rights requires a collective approach, and we think it is important that Queer East plays a part in this, as a joint force together with many other allies. Together, we can work on tackling the inequalities both outside and within the LGBTQ+ communities, and ensure the full diversity of the queer community is well reflected through the power of cinema.
This year’s Festival runs 18th – 29th May 2022 and here are QUEERGURU’S TOP PICKS OF MUST-SEE FILMS
BEAUTIFUL BOXER Writer/director Ekachai Uekrongtham based his first film on the true story of Parinaya Charoemphol AKA Nong Toom, a famous Thai athlete boxer who entered the world of Muay Thai (like kickboxing) to make enough money to help his family and pay for his ultimate sex-change surgery. It’s a tough story but Uekrongtham presents this edgy biography with such cinematic finesse and care that it becomes a film that appeals to a very wide audience.
Yes Or No : by Saratswadee Wongsomphet is the story of Pie a sweet girl who moves into a new college dorm room where she finds out that her new roommate Kim, is a tomboy who looks and dresses like a boy. As their friendship develops, Pie and Kim begin to wonder if the feeling they feel for one another is just an ordinary friendship or true love. Released in 2010, this was the first Thai lesbian film to be a mainstream success …. check it out and you’ll see why,
A Distant Place, the debut feature film from Korean filmmaker Kuo-Young Park, and is a remarkable finely nuanced tale that evolved into such an exquisite film as beautiful as the stunning rural setting. It is the first Korean queer film that I have ever seen and I have to confess although I was unsure what to expect ….. this was certainly not it A Distant Place is the story of Jin-Woo (Kang Gil-woo) who lives and works as a farmhand in a remote sheep ranch in the highlands of South Korea very near the border with North Korea. Park who also wrote the script feeds us details sparingly, so it takes us time to work out the setup at Mr. Kim’s ranch.
East Palace, West Palace is a historically important queer movie as it was the first Mainland Chinese film that was explicitly gay. Released in 1996 based on a short story by writer Wang Xiaobo, it is also known as Behind the Forbidden City.
It’s the story of a young gay writer called A-Lan who is attracted to a young policeman named Xiao Shi, and who manages to have himself arrested and interrogated for a whole night. His life story which he tells during the interrogation reflects the general repression of the Chinese society. Xiao Shi’s attitude shifts from the initial revulsion to fascination and, finally, to attraction. This is a must-see for every queer history buff.
Malila: The Farewell Flower This visually beautiful movie from Thailand avoids a traditional narrative and relies heavily on mystical and magical elements to tell this deeply moving story about love and loss. Pich (Anuchit Sapanpong ) has returned home to his remote country village to attend his mother’s funeral even though he is hardly well himself having just refused further treatment for his severe lung cancer. While he is there he looks up Shane (Sukollawat Kanarot ) his ex-boyfriend who had turned down the chance to move to Bangkok with Pich so that he could stay behind and get married.
For the full program QUEER EAST FILM FEST MAY 19 – May 22 2022 www.queereast.org.uk
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