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Queer East · 2024

Queer East 2024

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Programme

11 films · 5 reviews

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Abang Adik

Review preview for Abang Adik

There are no weak links in this film, but Kang Ren Wu’s performance is extraordinary.

Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
Abang and Adi are undocumented orphans in Malaysia. While the older brother, who is deaf mute, has resigned himself to a life of poverty, his younger sibling burns with indignation. A brutal accident upsets their relationship's fragile balance.

(Country: Malaysia, Taiwan; Year: 2023; Director: Lay Jin Ong; Writer: Lay Jin Ong; Stars: Kang Ren Wu, Jack Tan, Kim Wang Tan, Serene Lim, April Chan, Bront Palarae)

Full review

Asog

All roads lead to the Ms. Gay Sicogan pageant! Rey toils away in mediocrity after their career as a comedian comes to a grinding halt due to a super typhoon devastating Tacoloban. They set their sights on winning the pageant cash prize. Joined by former student Arnel, searching for some semblance of the family he lost when his mother died in the typhoon, they embark on a journey, navigating trauma, transphobia, colonialism, climate change, grief, and ultimately, resilience.

(Country: Philippines; Year: 2023; Director: Seán Devlin; Writer: Seán Devlin, Jaya, Arnel Pablo; Stars: Jaya, Arnel Pablo, Ricky Gacho Jr)

I Am What I Am (Sobakasu)

Review preview for I Am What I Am

Tamada uses the established language of romcoms, subverting it to express the ways that Kasumi finds fulfilment in life and to explore aspects of her journey towards true self-acceptance.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Kasumi doesn't know what love is and she doesn't have any feeling of romance. Due to her sister's marriage, her mother arranged a formal marriage arrangement without her permission. At the meeting, she finds a man who is just seeking a friend.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2022; Director: Shinya Tamada; Stars: Tôko Miura, Marika Itô, Takumi Kitamura, Atsuko Maeda)

Full review

The Last Year Of Darkness

As the city of Chengdu changes, the future of Funky Town, a beloved queer-friendly techno club, is unclear. For a vibrant group of DJs, drag performers, artists, lovers, ravers, and skaters, the club is a sanctuary for underground partying and allows them to thrive after the sun sets.

(Country: China, US; Year: 2023; Director: Ben Mullinkosson)

Love Bound

LGBTQ+ activist Qiuyan Chen became an unexpected celebrity due to her courageous legal battle against homophobic university textbooks in the 2010s. However, this newfound fame came at a price: she was outed by her tutor, subjected to conversion therapy by her parents, and monitored by the Chinese government.

(Country: UK; Year: 2024; Director: Shanshan Chen; Stars: Qiuyan Chen)

The Missing (Iti Mapukpukaw)

Review preview for The Missing

Combining clever ideas with a deep current of emotional honesty, this is an unusual and powerful film.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
When an alien comes back to take him, a mouthless young man's life twists and turns as his memories untangle.

(Country: Philippines, Thailand; Year: 2023; Director: Carl Joseph Papa; Writer: Carl Joseph Papa; Stars: Carlo Aquino, Gio Gahol, Dolly De Leon)

Full review

A Princess' One-Sided Love

Suk-yeong is the youngest daughter of the late king, whose brother now sits on the throne; her five sisters have been married off to worthy but dull court nobles, a fate she is determined to avoid. So after meeting a handsome young scholar, Suk-yeong resolves to search for him, contriving to leave the palace grounds in which she has been confined her whole life.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 1967; Director: Choi Eun-hee)

The River (He Liu)

A young man develops severe neck pain after swimming in a polluted river; his dysfunctional parents are unable to provide any relief for him or themselves.

(Country: Taiwan; Year: 1997; Director: Tsai Ming-liang; Writer: Tsai Ming-liang, Tsai Yi-chun, Yang Pi-ying; Stars: Tien Miao, Lee Kang-sheng, Lu Yi-ching, Ann Hui, Chen Shiang-chyi)

Saving Face

Romantic comedy about a young woman keeping her lesbianism a secret because of conflicts with Chinese tradition.

(Country: US; Year: 2004; Director: Alice Wu; Writer: Alice Wu; Stars: Michelle Krusiec, Joan Chen, Lynn Chen, Jin Wang, Guang Lan Koh, Jessica Hecht, Ato Essandoh, David Shih, Brian Yang, Nathanel Geng, Mao Zhao)

Sara

Review preview for Sara

Delicately performed and quietly magical, this film is something special.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A trans woman returns to her remote village upon her father's death to find her traumatised mother in desperate need of her help.

(Country: Indonesia; Year: 2023; Director: Ismail Basbeth; Writer: Ismail Basbeth; Stars: Asha Smara Darra, Christine Hakim, Mian Tiara, Jajang C Noer, Landung Simatupang)

Full review

Summer Vacation 1999 (1999 Nen No Natsu Yasumi)

Review preview for Summer Vacation 1999

Repeated shots of train tracks and the use of sound without the sight of the train (or, elsewhere, children) add to [the] impression of distance from the real world coupled with unstoppable movement through time.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Summer vacation has emptied a Japanese boys' school of all but three boys. They have no families to return to for the summer, so they spend their days in the empty school. A darkness hangs over the three however: the suicide, three months earlier, of a classmate.

(Country: Japan; Year: 1988; Director: Shûsuke Kaneko; Writer: Moto Hagio, Rio Kishida; Stars: Eri Miyajima, Tomoko Ôtakara, Miyuki Nakano, Eri Fukatsu, Masaaki Maeda)

Full review