Queer East Film Festival returns for a second year [15 to 26 SEP 2021]
Queer East Film Festival returns for a second year with a full programme centred on queer storytelling & activism from East & Southeast Asia. Now booking at venues across London (15 to 26 SEP 2021).
By RADIANT CIRCUS // Twitter @radiantcircus | Instagram @radiantcircus
After a turbulent but brilliantly creative launch year in 2020, the wonderful Queer East Film Festival returns with a full programme for 2021 including a selection of 37 features, short films and artists’ moving image works from 15 countries. The film choices range from new releases to classic retrospectives, mainstream box office hits to radical independent works, accompanied by pre-screening introductions and filmmaker Q&As.
As with many events, the festival is opting for a blended approach to its interactive elements, promoting a series of online panel discussions with international guests throughout the festival period. These will cover such topics as women in the film industry, queer film festivals, and the development of Asian LGBTQ+ movements.
Launched in 2020, Queer East is a new film festival that aims to amplify the voices of Asian communities in the UK, who have often been excluded from mainstream discourse, despite Asians being one of the country’s fastest-growing ethnic groups. They’re also determined to facilitate a better understanding of the richness of queer Asian heritage, and to bridge the cultural distance between the UK public and the region.
PROGRAMME
The second edition of Queer East opens with the UK premiere of DAUGHTERS (2020 – main featured image), the directorial debut of Japanese filmmaker Hajime Tsuda; and will close with the multi award-winning DEAR TENANT (2020), directed by Taiwanese filmmaker Yu-Chieh Cheng.
Japan’s history of iconoclastic, inventive and unapologetic queer filmmaking, and its growing strength in advancing LGBTQ+ rights is celebrated in a special strand, Focus Japan, including ten films that cover queer representations in Japanese films from the 1980s until today. It features a double bill from the Japanese maestro Nagisa Oshima; MERRY CHRISTMAS, MR. LAWRENCE (1983) and a rare 35mm presentation of GOHATTO (1999); a queer revisiting of the 1995 animation GHOST IN THE SHELL (d. Mamoru Oshii) and the 20th anniversary screening of Ryosuke Hashiguchi’s HUSH! (2001), alongside recent releases like QUEER JAPAN (d. Graham Kolbeins, 2019) and CLOSE-KNIT (d. Naoko Ogigami, 2017).
Building on the success of last year, the festival’s Focus Taiwan strand continues with DAYS (2020) by the internationally acclaimed auteur Tsai Ming-Liang, the UK premiere of Teddy-award winning director Zero Chou’s SECRETS OF 1979 (2021), and a special presentation of THE END OF THE TRACK (d. Tun-Fei Mou), a rediscovered classic made in 1970. The series also includes an exciting line-up of short films and experimental works that showcase Taiwan’s vibrant queer culture.
Yi Wang, Festival Director and Programmer for Queer East, had this to say about the programme:
“Global events in the past year, from Covid-19-related anti-Asian attacks to the Black Lives Matter movement, have once again reminded us how vital fair and authentic racial and sexual representation is for our society. LGBTQ+ people have had labels, stereotypes and stigmas imposed on them for a long time. For me, queer is a word without consistent meaning, and we should not settle on a one-note definition. I believe that film is one of the most direct and accessible mediums that allows us to address issues and situations that people simply weren’t aware of before. Films enable us to construct a more positive, inclusive and dynamic LGBTQ+ narrative both outside and within the LGBTQ+ communities.”
Yi Wang / Queer East
Queer East Film Festival screens from 15 to 26 SEP at venues across London & online, & is booking now!
ALSO BOOKING NOW…
Sine Screen presents Vulnerable Histories at Close-Up & The Garden Cinema (19 to 26 AUG 2023)
Lost Reels presents 16mm & 35mm screenings at The Cinema Museum & ICA (19 & 31 AUG 2023)
The Duke Mitchell Film Club presents DukeFest 2023: A Brave New World (13 to 16 AUG 2023)
Cinema Mentiré launches with OLHAR PERIFERICO season (AUG 2023)
Token Homo’s BAR TRASH presents MONSTER MAYHEM! at Genesis Cinema & Rule Zero (31 MAY to 13 SEP 2023).
South Asian Heritage Month – ‘Stories To Tell’ at The Garden Cinema (18 JUL to 17 AUG 2023)
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*THE SMALL PRINT: Opinions author’s own. // As accurate as we could make it. Apologies for any errors. Updates & corrections will be made to the online version only. // Event dates/times/formats are subject to change by the venue/organiser. Events may already be sold out at the time of posting, so please click quickly. // We try to list as many original format screenings as we can (8 to 70MM), but sometimes formats change due to age of the print, availability, logistics etc, so please check ahead with your venue if the format is your thing. // All images are used in the spirit of fair use for reporting & review – no ownership is implied or intended / unless otherwise credited to RADIANT CIRCUS as the original rights holder. We will remove any images immediately upon request – just get in touch. // We don’t filter our listings by age/certification: all readers & subscribers should therefore be 18+. // Finally, we always try to follow The Carny Code by “not screwing up anyone else’s game”, but everyone can make mistakes… If something does go wrong, we will always do our best to put it right. //.