FREE TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE
Listed in order of appearance:
17 June 2019, 5pm – 7pm, A0.23, The Social Sciences Building, University of Warwick, CV4 7AL – Collaboration with Queer History Reading Group @ University of Warwick – Stonewall Commemoration.
Free tickets available here. Further details available here.
A Letter To The Person I Have Met On Tinder
Dir. James Allen Fajardo
Philippines
[Running time: 4.33]
The film is about my experience meeting a stranger I matched with on Tinder. The film explores the idea of how we find love in this modern time.
Embodiment
Dir. Edwige Pezulli, Giulia Prizzitano
US/ Italy
[Running time: 17.03]
A yoga instructor, a boxing girl, an aerial artist. Three stories, three bodies, three different ways of living in them. The same need: to achieve their own personal freedom. What separates or unites these three distinct bodies and how do they form a unique female body?
Chudala
Dir. Maaria Saayed
India
[Running time: 14.19]
‘Chudala,’ is an intimate exploration of a father-daughter relationship in a rapidly developing India. Based on an Indian mythological story of a woman turning into a man in order to seem significant to her family, this film tells the story of a lower middle class Muslim girl Rukhsana who returns to her house as Rehan.
Balance
Dir. David Thế
Singapore/ Vietnam
[Running time: 06.00]
An insight into a struggling gay artist in Vietnam where the LBGT situation is still frowned upon.
A Wonderful Affair
Dir. Tahir Ün
Turkey
[Running time: 05.00]
Harika is a child whose Kurdish family was set refuge from Siirt to Manisa at the end of 1980’s. Harika self identifies as a transsexual feeling female spirit living in Izmir since 2000 and making a living through prostitution.
From AM to PM (A Look into Ishaq’s Life)
Dir. Alizeb Raees
Pakistan
[Running time: 14.16]
From AM to PM is an intimate look into the life of Ishaq, who must maintain a balance between providing for his family and following his desire to become part of Khawaja Sira community.
Post-Film Panel: Worlding Queerness in Asia
As film increasingly dominates the visions of life and being in the world, this panel follows from the seminal work of Dr. Karl Schoonover and Dr. Rosalind Galt in Queer Cinema in the World to discuss the ways in which film is bringing into conception queer worlds across Asia and its diasporas.
21 June 2019, 9:30am – 12pm, KLT, SOAS University of London – Collaboration with Centre for Taiwan Studies @ SOAS University of London, WC1H 0XG
Tickets available here
Taipeilove*
Dir. Lucie Liu
Taiwan
[Running time: 1.10.00]
Taipeilove* is a documentary on the perception of homosexuality in the Taiwanese society. As Taiwan is the first country in Asia that is in the process of legalizing same-sex marriage, the documentary follows activists, politicians and experts in the Taiwanese society who have been fighting for marriage equality and navigating their lives through the hardship of coming-out, reaction of families, abandonment and finding love.
11 July 2019, 5pm – 7pm, SWLT, Paul Webley Wing, SOAS University of London WC1H 0XG – Collaboration with SOAS India Society @ SOAS University of London, WC1H 0XG
Free tickets available here.
Evening Shadows
Dir. Sridhar Rangayan
India
[Running time: 1.42.00]
‘Evening Shadows’ is a universal story about a mother-son bonding and its emotional strength to withstand the ravages of time and harsh realities.
Post-Film Panel: On screen, At festivals: the politics of Queer Indian Cinema
with Dr. Karl Schoonover, Prof. Rosalind Galt, Nadika Nadje, Neeraj Churi
With the increasing attention on the movement against Section 377 and the decriminalization in 2018 cinema in India has approached gender and sexual alterity in India anew. Films such as Evening Shadows, the proliferation of queer film festivals, and the exponential growth of queer TV shows, new media, webseries, all raise the question of where next?
13 July 2019, 10am – 5pm, Stevenson Lecture Theatre, The British Museum, WC1B 3DG – Collaboration with CINEMQ
Free tickets available here
1000 – 1145
‘Of Home and Belonging’
What chains bind us to one another? What does belonging to family and kin mean? What acts of violence and love are enacted in its name? What does home feel like and how is it created? Explore ideas and visions of families — both blood and chosen, maintained and created — with these beautiful and thought-provoking films from China, Azerbaijan, Philippines, South Korea, and India.
Sunken Plum
Dir. Xu Xiaoxi, Roberto F. Canuto
China
[Running time: 19.57]
A transgender Chinese woman receives news of her mother’s death. As the only “son”, she feels obligated to return to her birthplace in the mountains, even though she’ll have to hide her true self from family and friends.
Winged Miracle
Dir. Zahra Mir Rzazadeh
Azerbaijan
[Running time: 7.35]
A daughter attempts to visit her convicted poet father in prison. She brings a series of drawings to give to him.
Ashen River of Remembrance
Dir. Ronaldo S. Vivo, Jr., Ronnel S. Vivo
Philippines
[Running time: 15]
The Spanish colonization of the Philippines is in its infancy. Townsfolk believe Pinang has been possessed by an evil spirit. Pinang’s parents have unwavering faith that Father Vacion’s rituals will cure their daughter. Soleng, Pinang’s dear friend, thought otherwise.
Hands and Wings
Dir. Sungbin Byun
South Korea
[Running time: 18]
Mi-Sook helps her son, Woo-Sung, with masturbation because he has disability that makes him unable to masturbate by himself. One day, Woo-Sung rejects his mother’s offer to help.
The Forbidden Love
Dir. Paayel Chouudhury
India
[Running time: 32.47]
A story about two girls and their love, desire, pain, and passion. It’s a story about finding themselves and their journey to be together as a couple. However the path is not clear and they face enormous hardship from society and their own families. (CW: Rape)
1145-1330
‘Inside Out/ Outside In’
A Kurdish feminist walks the street. Two Arab-American women engaging in a chess battle. The murder of a trans sister, January Lapuz. The loneliest whale in the world. How are these characters interconnected? Join us in exploring these intersectional identities as we unravel the strings that unite us in struggles to overcome inequality and difference at the crossings of LGBT disabled, black and ethnic minority communities.
I / Him
Dir. Güldem Durmaz
Turkey
[Running time: 22.34]
Esmeray is a transexual Kurdish artist and feminist who lives in Istanbul. Two simultaneous films become an experiment in self-shadowing.
I Say Dust
Dir. Darine Hotait
USA/Lebanon
[Running time: 14.13]
Two Arab-American women in New York City fall in love, argue home and identity, engage in a chess battle, and express themselves through the power of the spoken word. Their brief love affair challenges their understanding of what makes a home.
My Name was January
Dir: Elina Gress, Lenee Son
Canada/Philippines
[Running time: 25.45]
When a trans sister, January Marie Lapuz, is brutally murdered, a community reacts and her friends and other trans women of colour come to share and voice their issues, concerns, and challenges. This film brings justice to January and to the many trans women who have lost their lives. (CW:Trauma, violence)
A Face without a heart
Dir. Xinning Liu
UK/China
[Running time: 2.00]
An animation about a woman who is struggling to find her identity between beauty and ugliness.
52 Hertz
Dir. Xuetong Zhao
China
[Running time: 15.50]
The sound wave frequency of the average whale is 15 to 20 hertz, but one-of-a-kind whale, Alice, has a frequency of 52 hertz. With no response, she has been called the loneliest whale in the world. Qian Li, a young Chinese gay guy, seeks to find Alice. This is a story about love, differences in culture, freedom and loneliness.
1330-1500
‘Power Out!’
Queer bodies. Bodies that transgress. Trangressing makes these bodies an obvious target for oppression and power. From a Turkish woman forced to live as a man by day to a group of girls stretching the boundaries of the possible in Brunei, films in this rubric explore the fundamental question – who regulates the queer and why? Simultaneously, they suggest possible paths to resistance. Power Out!
The Visible
Dir. Atikah Zainidi
Brunei
[Running time: 3:42]
A short documentary exploring what it is like to be a girl in Brunei.
The Land of the Brave
Dir. Rhadem Morados
Philippines
[Running time: 29:00]
Lupag Sug translates to ‘land of the brave’ in Tausug, a language used by a major ethnic group hailing from Mindanao, the southernmost island of the Philippines. This documentary narrates firsthand accounts of the struggle for safe space and acceptance.
Madun
Dir. Düzgün Akdeniz
Turkey
[Running time: 04:09]
An ordinary day of a trans woman who lives like a man outside.
Parking
Dir. Ahmad Seyfipoor
Iran
[Running time: 10:00]
A burglar sees two men having sex on the back seat of a parked car. The men know if they call the police, the burglar will only be sentenced to three months in jail. But they will be sentenced to death.
Teluki
Dir. Abdul Zainidi
Brunei
[Running time: 3:04]
Strange things happen to boys who are ‘unnatural’. They mean no harm but want to escape this world to be happy. Teluki finds his calling…
Programming followed by a post-film panel discussion:
Policing Queer Bodies – Law, Society and Nation with Dir. Atikah and Xuming Xie.
1530-1700
‘Dreams + Nightscapes’ – Programming by CINEMQ
We find each other in dreams. In cinemas and streets, in half-forgotten spaces, eyes bright and shadow-boxed as cheeks run black with rain. Queer visions in the dark. CINEMQ presents a selection of short films from across Asia exploring dream, desire, and nightscapes.
The Tyger [Tropical Malady edit]
Dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Thailand
A short video essay on man and nature.
They Won’t Let A Dream Come True
Dir. Shumaila Kanwal
Pakistan
The world outside / Always wants some reason / For something new / For a dream to come true.
Aren’t We Here For Each Other
Dir. Gilb Baldoza
Philippines
Romance endures violence as a couple celebrates their anniversary against the backdrop of Duterte’s war on drugs.
Things I Would Say To My Mom If Only I Were Brave Enough
Dir. James Allen Fajardo
Philippines
Filmmaker James Allen Fajardo recalls his childhood before his mother left him to work abroad, and all the things he wished he could have told her about his burgeoning sexuality.
Queer
Dir. Romi Kim
S. Korea
Whispers of queerness in a young woman’s coming out story, an intimate narrative that holds her first kiss, first love and feelings of exclusions. She navigates and explores both the negativity around the word ‘queer,’ and her struggle to identify within it.
I Am/Yalani Dream
Dir. YaliniDream & Krissy Mahan
USA
Artist YaliniDream – Lankan Tamil Blood, Manchester-Born, Texas-Bred and Brooklyn-Brewed – performs a poem of refugee/migrant love for the self and the world, through dance and a hiphop beat.
Tofu
Dir. Sui-hin Mak
Hong Kong
An experimental montage.
The Mute
Dir. Pham Thien An
Vietnam
The night before her wedding, a woman seeks out her ex-girlfriend for the last time.
Do It Again
Dir. Hsin Hsuan Yeh
Taiwan
Not knowing who I am and what should I do, floating in the air, I am a bear in the mortal world. I always wander in the dead-end road, swinging back and forth between disgust and joy. When will I face my own desires without hating myself?
Care For You
Dir. OHYUNG
USA
Romance blossoms when two souls cross paths in a late-night diner. A tender and surreal meditation on expressions of love.
Make Up Your Mind
Dir. Miguel Badiola Borje
Hong Kong
How do we determine the value of others, who has the right to decide a person’s worth? Two dancers move through a desolate building in this short film dedicated to the Filipinos of Hong Kong.
Chromosome Sweetheart
Dir. Honami Yano
Japan
Running into your ex can trigger a flood of bittersweet memories, but the world brims with with new and complex ways to love.
Two Snakes
Dir. Kristin Li
Canada
An experimental animation and documentary about diasporic desires for foundational myths. Seeking a home in reclaiming ones’ ancestry and seeking a self in reappropriated narratives. What is found is an identity, one that is fragmented, but open.
Amateur Dramatics
Dir. Linnea Ritland
Canada
Two actors competing for the same role find truth in a moment of pretending.
14 July 2019, 10am – 5pm, Stevenson Lecture Theatre, British Museum, WC1B 3DG – Collaboration with CINEMQ
Free tickets available here.
1000-1130
‘Point, Shoot: Enabling Community Storytelling Through Film’: CINEMQ Programming
Film is a vital tool in telling the lives of queer people. The shifting economics of filmmaking, in particular the digital revolution of production and distribution, have opened new routes for self-reporting, representation and exploration in fiction, documentary and experimental work. In Asia and the global South, where stories have historically gone untold, or been told by outsiders, new possibilities are still being uncovered. This programme presents four films produced by organisations that provide resources, mentorship and funding to new filmmakers seeking to tell stories from their own communities and experience.
You and Me
Dir. Ha Na & Lu Ling
China
Produced by Queer University
When you turn the camera around, you can’t see yourself.
Soulmates
Dir. Lei Lei Aye
Myanmar
Produced by Rainbow Reels
A woman from the village and a man from the city fall in love, make a home and raise a family in this delicate documentary portrait of queerness in rural Myanmar.
Physicality
Dir. V. Ramanathan
India
Produced by KASHISH Arts Foundation
Shireen drives a taxi and dreams of becoming an actress. Krithika is focused in her ambition to become a police officer. A story of two friends striving for recognition of their preferred gender in a society that can’t think beyond the physicality of being a male or female.
Brothers
Dir. Yaoyao
China
Produced by Queer University
In the eastern city of Jinan, a group of trans men meet in solidarity and call each other ‘brother’. Tony is one of them. Yaoyao’s documentary follows Tony on his journey to self-acknowledgement, taking in the hardships his community faces along the way.
Post programme panel on the role of DIY film making in queer activism and community building with Dr. He Xiaopei, Juan M. Sanchez, and Matthew Baren.
1130-1315
‘Languages of Love‘
The myriad shapes and forms of love transgress barriers, it holds us as grief in Son of a Dancer, it roots us as families found or lost, formed or given in 2015 and A Simple Love Story. Marked by deep longing and the desire to find love From AM to PM (A Look Into Ishaq’s Life) and Zara Nazar Uthake Dekho – Tales of Cruising in India negotiate this deeply felt search and desire.
Son of A Dancer
Dir. Georges Hazim
Lebanon
[Running time: 20.00]
Torn between his relationship with his now-silent father, and Hanine, the woman who will help him overcome his grief, Majed takes a trip down memory lane into the mysterious past of his mother…
A Simple Love Story
Dir. Hnin Papa Soe
Myanmar
[Running time: 21.00]
A documentary film following a not so simple yet simple love story between a tomboy and a transvestite man in Myanmar.
Zara nazar Uthake Delkho – Tales of Cruising in India
Dir. Anindya Das
India
[Running time: 23.00]
This documentary explores personal cruising narratives against visuals of Indian public spaces. Urban cruising remains one of the most dominant ways of finding sexual/romantic partners for the LGBTQ community in India.
From AM to PM (A Look into Ishaq’s Life)
Dir. Alizeb Raees
Pakistan
[Running time: 14.16]
An intimate look into the life of Ishaq, who must maintain a balance between providing for his family and following his desire to become part of Khawaja Sira community in Lahore.
2015
Dir. Eluna Cepeda
Philippines
[Running time: 14.00]
Unmoored from the chaos & prejudice of the outside world, we are left with a gentle, bittersweet snapshot of a loving couple savoring every moment together before an inevitable conclusion.
1330-1500
‘Performing Gender’ – CINEMQ Programming
Through the lens of gender, the authentic self is performance. Coded binary yet moulded fluid, dictated by society yet defined by the individual. This programme presents a series of films exposing the edges of definition and boundaries of expression in familiar and unexpected ways.
Neyna’s Diary
Dir. Eugene Chin
Myanmar
Neyna, who took her name from a demigod in a storybook, recounts memories of her parents, her life and her close encounter with death.
Lady Eva
Dir. Dean Hamer & Joe Wilson
Tonga
A brave young transgender woman sets off on a journey to become her true self in the conservative Pacific Island Kingdom of Tonga – with a little inspiration from Tina Turner along the way.
Not Acceptable
Saman Haghighivand
Iran
A young trans man reaches into his identity, but at the risk of losing his family.
Feminist Voices Funeral and Disco Memorial Party
Dir. Feminist Voices
China
When Feminist Voices, China most prominent feminist media organisation, was banned on International Women’s Day 2018, a group of activists mourn its loss with a disco party on a grave.
3 Minutes Me and Myself
Dir. Chen Qiu
China
Artist and filmmaker Chen Qiu explores the relationship between her body, her camera and herself.
Tomgirl
Dir. Vonne Patiag
Australia
A young Filipino boy in Western Sydney gets an enchanting crash-course in his homeland culture when his uncle reveals himself to be a cross-dresser in the ‘Bakla’ tradition.
Storm
Dir. Aditya Dawar
India
This film portrays a reality of the wrestlers in which they are belittled in contrast to their strength and masculinity and are stuck as puppets in a play in a constant recurring cycle of fighting and tiring and preparing to fight again. Where the dark nature of the fighting is rather showcased as frivolous and insignificant.
Boys Of Hong Kong
Dir. Luke Casey
Hong Kong
A sensual exploration of maleness, and of new articulations of masculinity, amongst the youth of Hong Kong.
Blooming Night
Dir. Bell Zhong
China
Mesmerized by a pair of red heels, a lonely street guy in Shanghai follows its owner into a forbidden club. There, he discovers something that challenges, yet awakens his mind. This short is inspired by the real underground elder LGBTQ community in Shanghai.
Post programme panel and discussion with Jason Kwan and Whiskey Chow with Will Dai
1500-1700
‘The Child‘
Join us on a journey through film as we put queerness and the child together. How is queer subjecthood and identity haunted by the figure of the child? What role does nurture play in the making of the child? How are social systems geared towards regulating the queer child? The mothers. The families. The schools. And what forms of love, violence, and entanglements shape the child?
What I Would Have Told My Daughter If I Knew What To Say Back Then
Dir. Cha Roque
Philippines
[Running time: 12:31]
This film features over 13 years of home video footage. The filmmaker deploys this private archive to engage in an imagined conversation with her daughter as a child, revealing a big secret about her identity.
Ordinary Everyday
Dir. Noriko Yuasa
Japan
[Running time: 30:22]
Mr Tsuda is a handsome dance-club coach. Concerned about one injured member, Ami, he visits her home in the middle of Tokyo. What he finds is a seemingly perfect family life, but Ami’s father is missing. Growing closer to the family, he realises the family lead anything but an ordinary life. (CW: Violence)
Dollhouse
Dir. Ezgi Temel
Turkey
[Running time: 4:21]
On a normal Sunday shopping trip, a son rejects the Batman toy his mother selected. He wants the Barbie Doll House instead. The mother does not let him buy it. Back home, the boy transform the Batman toy into what he wants with his father’s support.
Two Boys and a Sheep
Dir. Hyung-suk Lee
South Korea
[Running time: 18:00]
Two different love stories criss-cross in a remote community: between two boys, and a man and a woman.
Langit Budak Biru
Dir. Kean Hian Lim
Malaysia
[Running time: 23:36]
Two teenage boys forced to balance self-discovery with the challenges of school bullying, at a time of great uncertainty and self-doubt in their adolescent years.
The Liberation Man
Dir. Scott Dance
UK
[Running time: 06:30]
Scott Dance’s latest documentary on a sensitive issue reveals what it is like to be a Queer Muslim in 2019 in a heartfelt and fascinating interview with the LGBT activist and Gay Muslim, Khakan Qureshi. How has he used his differences strategically to help queer South Asians like him?
Films followed by a panel discussion: ‘Thinking sexuality and “The Child”‘ with Khakhan Qureshi, Alana Eissa, Qiu Bai, and Zixi Zuo
16 July 2019, 5pm – 7pm, SALT, SOAS University of London WC1H 0XG – Collaboration with SOAS India Society and Club Kali
Free tickets available here
Pixelia
Dir. Ratheesh Ravindran
India
[Running time: 1.10.48]
Pixelia, a movie with a stylistic blend of documentary and magical realism talks about the fragmentation in our daily lives. Two people Kumar, an uber driver, and Mandakini, his passenger a transwoman bond over this journey and explore queer identities and its meaning.
Films followed by a panel discussion: ‘Queering Mothers, Queering Daughters: Realities from India and Abroad’ with Pamela Chabba (Club Kali) and
17 July 2019, 5pm – 7pm, S- 2.08 Strand Building Lecture Theatre, King’s College London, WC2R 2LS – Collaboration with Queer@King’s
Free tickets available here
1700-1900
‘feeling bodies‘
Ex-lovers meet; two similar souls dance; bodies bleed; a man learns to pass: bodies feel and are felt in this collection of films that evokes notions of identity, intimacy, performance, solitude, embodiment, punishment, desire, and longing.
One more Cigarette
Dir. Ivan Romanov
Russian Federation
[Running Time: 7.15]
A young man lights a cigarette, bringing him both closer to his friend and at the same time more lonely…
I Can’t Breathe
Dir. Zehong Zhu
Nepal
[Running Time: 2.50]
A short fiction documentary animation about a tradition from Western part of Nepal.
Car Park Blues
Dir. Khomthong Rungsawang
Thailand
[Running Time: 1.00]
A short walk in a parking lot reveals how much time has changed the dynamic between Game and Toy.
Akif
Dir. Harun Baysan
Turkey
[Running Time: 30.00]
Akif has to avoid compulsory military service and there’s only one way… He gets close to Uğur who is exempt from military service for being gay.
Le Coup..
Dir. Jacqueline Nassour
Lebanon
[Running Time: 11.00]
A story about two girls from different backgrounds who finds one another and express their similarities in a rather strange way.
Untitled
Dir. Flame Channel
Vietnam/USA
[Running Time: 5.27]
A short experimental film exploring identity.
The Boy Who Bleeds in the Middle of the Sea
Dir. James Allen Fajardo
Philippines
[Running Time: 15.00]
Simon, a teenage boy, menstruates in the middle of fishing. Simultaneously, his father, Nestor, an activist leader in their community, organizes and mobilizes the fisherfolks to continue to fight for their community, which faces impending demolition.
Post-Films Panel: Film Festival As Method – Curation, Challenges, Content
Cinema is rapidly changing the way queerness is imagined and visualised in diverse contexts. While rigid censorship laws, social oppression, and lack of funding push queer filmmakers to adopt a range of strategies in film making, distribution, and production, they have also resulted in queer film festivals emerging as crucial sites negotiating these regulatory powers amongst other critical goals. This panel discusses the role of film festivals as critical sites negotiating queer politics and challenges of distribution and exhibition through curation.
22 July 2019, 5pm – 7pm, Wolfson Research Exchange Centre (3rd Floor) Library Building, University of Warwick – in collaboration with Centre for the Study of Women and Gender (CSWG) University of Warwick and the Queer History Reading Group, University of Warwick – Free tickets available here
BomGay
Dir. Riyad Vinci Wadia
India
[Running time: 12.00]
Bomgay is a 1996 Indian anthology of short films directed by Riyad Vinci Wadia and Jangu Sethna. The film stars Kushal Punjabi and Rahul Bose with music by Ashutosh Phatak. It is often regarded as India’s first gay film and is known for its controversial gay sex scene in a library.
Transnational Connections: Feminist and Queer Politics from Warwick University to BomGay
Prof. R. Raj Rao, India’s first gay novelist and academic, recently published his collection of essays on queer politics in India titled Criminal Love: Queer Theory, Culture, and Politics in India. He studied for a post doc degree at the University of Warwick in 1986 and in an interview explained how his decision to begin organising queer political courses, activism, and work in Mumbai in the 1990s was influenced by his experience of the queer and feminist movements in the University of Warwick in the 1980s. Rao’s collections of essays on queer politics in India and his discussion of the queer and feminist movement in Warwick in the 80s sheds light on the power and impact of transnational collective organising and the role of Warwick in inspiring his literary work and his activism.