Our programming at ‘Queer’ Asia aims to bring in a range of conversations and issues in an interregional Asian exchange, so we encourage our audiences to attend the each event screening with a view to watching the full programme.
Please note some films have alternative text available for accessibility purposes; please email queerasia@gmail.com to request these. We apologise that not all films have alternative text available (based on filmmakers’ access to resources to allow for this).
All of our venues are accessible: information can be found on venue webpages linked below to each venue. Please see this page for venue details.
For venue information, please go to our festival overview page
FULL PROGRAMME OF FILMS
‘desiring a queer utopia’
16 June (Thursday) | 19:00-21:00 BST | Brighton (exclusive screening)
30 June (Thursday) | 14:30-16:30 BST | Warwick | BOOK TICKETS HERE (please note, your ticket gives you access to the whole of Global South Initiative First Annual Conference. Please see overview webpage for more details)
Many understand ‘queer’ as a synonym for LGBT+ identity. But, it is a notoriously slippery and stubbornly unfixed term. What does it mean to desire ‘queerly’ or otherwise? We invite you to explore this question through the films in this selection. All of these imagine new ways to realise love, from the utopic to queerly strange or, even, eerie.
(Click here to read more about the films)
From the fabulous water (Japan) – Dir. Caori Murata
Love X Bites (Myanmar) – Dir. M. Noe, Yupar Momo (content warning: murder, violence)
NERVE – Identity and pride (Brazil) – Dir. Jefherson Luiz Maiczak
now i close my eyes the world i see is so beautiful (United Kingdom) – Dir. April Lin 林森
Programming H (Colombia) – Dir. Jose Nando Roa, Michell Cardenas
Unbecoming Boy: After Taylor Swift (United Kingdom) – Dir. JJ Chan (content warning: scenes of sexual nature)
I Am (Spain) – Dir. Jaime Fidalgo
She Takes Me Over (China) – Dir. Matthew Baren
Soy Sauce (Germany) – Dir. Sarnt Utamachote
Relationships (Taiwan) – Dir. Ching-Yu Yang
Nights of Passion (Turkey) – Dir. Ufuk Kadız
Loverless Bed Decides (Indonesia) – Dir. Andrew Bachtiar
‘difficult modes of survival’
17 June (Friday) | 12:30-14:30 BST | Oxford | BOOK TICKETS HERE
17 June (Friday) | 19:00-21:00 BST | Brighton | BOOK TICKETS HERE
The COVID-19 pandemic has unexpectedly and brutally thrown all of our lives into question. But, some of us are affected more than others. This screening asks you to consider what living — or, simply, surviving — in our difficult time is like for people who already exist on the margins.
(Click here to read more about the films)
Is there a century? (Ukraine) – Dir. Sophie Yaroslavivna Abazjan-Bihailo
KURMAGHAR (India) – Dir. Avinash Shejwal
Traffic Lights (Uzbekistan) – Dir. Islom Rustam o’g’li Riskulov
as if nothing happened (Philippines) – Dir. JT Trinidad
Is a Film a Bone? (Japan) – Dir. Nine Chiyoko Yamamoto-Masson
Welcome to the World (USA) – Dir. Albert M. Chan, Anthony Grasso
Iris (Turkey) – Dir. Volkan Güleryüz
‘old/young forbidden years’
17 June (Friday) | 15:00-17:00 BST | Oxford | BOOK TICKETS HERE
25 June (Saturday) | 13:30-15:00 BST | London | BOOK TICKETS HERE
Today, lesbian and, especially, gay identity are increasingly co-opted by capitalist institutions, eroding their radical potential. For many, these labels are now synonymous with a privileged, English-speaking, white, urban consumer in their twenties or early thirties. This selection invites you to imagine what lies beyond these narrow and exclusionary boundaries by screening the lives of queer people, who are rendered invisible in mainstream culture due to their age.
(Click here to read more about the films)
Missing Piece (Lebanon) – Dir. Nadim el Khoury
The Broken Vinyl Record (Philippines) – Dir. Janina Gacosta & Cheska Marfori
Encounter (Mexico) – Dir. Ivan Lowenberg
Underage (Thailand) – Dir. Ohm Phanphiroj (content warning: images of underage sex workers)
U šifonjeru (Serbia) – Dir. Tamara Broćić
‘home reinvented: radical communities/belonging’
22 June (Wednesday) | 17:30-19:30 BST | Oxford | BOOK TICKETS HERE
25 June (Saturday) | 11:00-12:30 BST | London | BOOK TICKETS HERE
Traditional culture paints home as the idyllic site of middle-class comfort and safety. But, many — especially, minorities and those who exist on the margins — experience it as a place of rejection, patriarchal oppression and, even, violence. We bring you a selection of films that strive to create an alternative ‘queer’ home, inclusive and welcoming to all those who need it.
(Click here to read more about the films)
There Will Be Dramatic Irony (Turkey) – Dir. Omer Umar
Sab Rab De Bande [We’re all God’s Creation] (India) – Dir. Sukhdeep Singh
lonesome – a Malaysian LGBTQ+ voicemail documentary (Malaysia) – Dir. Justice Knor
A Little Shine (Taiwan) – Dir. 允柔陳 [Yun Jou Chen]
the sea bride (Bahrain) – Dir. Mohammed Hussain Ateeq
*UK Premiere* Jamie Chi’s ‘Safe Distance’
26 June (Sunday) | 14:00-15:30 BST | London | BOOK TICKETS HERE
This screening is the UK-wide premiere of Safe Distance, a documentary by filmmaker Jamie Chi. Jamie’s film explores queer Chinese individuals’ lived experiences and narratives in the UK, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The film is based on interactions with 31 queer-identified interviewees who come from different Chinese societies and backgrounds, including mainland China, Hong Kong, Canada, the Netherlands, the UK, and Singapore, all of whom are currently based in the UK. Safe Distance examines intersecting issues, including identity, intersectionality, mental health, discrimination, migration, the notion of home and community.
(Click here to read more about the film)
‘queer human[?] – bodies in flux’
26 June (Sunday) | 16:00-18:00 BST | London | BOOK TICKETS HERE
What does ‘queer’ really mean? Is all desire human? This selection urges the viewers to look at the queer body anew. Is there even a body? And, is it human??
(Click here to read more about the films)
HundeFreund [Dogfriend] (Germany) – Dir. Sailesh Naidu
(introduction to the field of) shapable matter (Russia) – Dir. Margarita Raeva
Miss Man (India) – Dir. Tathagata Ghosh
Mermaid (Iran) – Dir. Saber Mostafapour
Layer (Kazakhstan) – Dir. Ruthie Jenrbekova, Maria Vilkovisky (content warning: rated 18; contains full nudity)
For venue information, please go to our festival overview page
Please contact queerasia@gmail.com for any further information or queries
