A total of 15 Taiwanese films are to feature at this year’s Queer East Film Festival in London between 15 and 26 September. This year’s festival presents a diverse Asian queer narrative, rethinking the meaning of “family” and highlighting innovative contemporary works, whilst also giving UK audiences the chance to watch some classic LGBTQ+ cinema from the region.

With the support of the Ministry of Culture, the Festival will screen recent Taiwanese works such as the experimental feature “Days” from Tsai Ming-liang, Zero Chou’s “Secrets of 1979”, which explores a secret romance during Taiwan’s martial law era and “Miss Andy” by Teddy Chin, a film focusing the struggles of a transgender woman in Malaysia. Tun-Fei Mou’s “The End of the Track,” a heart-breaking piece of cinema which was banned by Taiwan’s authoritarian government in 1970, is also set to hit the silver screen.

The Festival will include several shorts from Taiwan as well. Su Hui-Yu’s visual artwork “The Women’s Revenge” re-examines body regulation and modern discomfort, taking inspiration of exploitation movies from the 1980s, whilst works from new directors, such as Chia-Hsuan Tsai’s “Moving in Between” and Yu-Tong Weng’s “Undercurrent”, will be screened in conjunction with feature films on similar topics. The festival will close with Yu-Chieh Cheng’s portrayal of an unconditional family in a Taiwan that has legalised same-sex marriage, “Dear Tenant.”

Yi Wang, curator and founder of the Queer East Film Festival, said: “With the long history of the LGBTQ+ movement and the liberal social atmosphere of Taiwan, the gender-related cultural contents demonstrate a wide variety of styles and often touch upon with other social topics with great depth. For example, this year’s Taiwanese works focus on issues involving transgender people, adoption, surrogate motherhood, authoritarianism and body image.”

Director Tsai Ming-liang will be attending a live online filmmakers Q&A session, whilst Zero Zhou and Yu-Chieh Cheng will be greeting audiences with pre-recorded videos before screenings. Professor Chris Berry, from Kings College London’s Film Department, and Christopher Brown, from the University of Sussex’s Film Department, will be introducing “The End of the Track” and “Miss Andy” respectively.

There will also be three group panels: the 18th September event will feature an online dialogue with Taiwanese director Zero Zhou and Japanese director Naoko Ogigami. The 23rd September panel will see Taiwanese lawyer Yu Mei-Nu, Ryan V. Silverio, CEO of LGBT human rights organisation ASEAN SOGIE, Otgonbaatar Tsedendemberel, former CEO of the LGBT Center of Mongolia, discuss the fight for LGTBQ+ rights in Asia. The founder of the Taiwan International Queer Film Festival Jay Lin will also attend a panel on the 25th September for a conversation on Asian queer film festivals.

This year’s Festival will also be extended into October, with selected films touring UK cities such as Cardiff, Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham and Sheffield. Other screenings will be held in cooperation with the School of Oriental and African Studies, including works from the late Taiwanese director Mickey Chen.

This year’s Queer East Film Festival will be screening across some of the capital’s best known independent venues, including the Genesis Cinema, the international art film theatre Curzon Soho, documentary theatre Bertha DocHouse, Catford Mews, Lexi Cinema, and the historic Prince Charles Cinema. The Horse Hospital, one of London’s oldest continuing art spaces, which has hosted work from artists such as Vivienne Westwood and Banksy, will be co-operating with the Festival to screen restored films, video art and shorts.

The Queer East Film Festival is supported by a number of UK institutions, including the British Film Institute, Film Hub London, Arts Council England, and a number of cultural organisations, such as the Barbican Centre, LGBT Consortium and the Stonewall Community Foundation.

Film Screening List

Features: “Dear Tenant”, “Days”, “Miss Andy”, “Secrets of 1979”, “The End of the Track”

Shorts: “The Women’s Revenge”, “FATbulous Me”, “Legit Moms, Illegitimate Kid”, “Unnamed”, “Undercurrent”, “Moving in Between”

Mickey Chen’s works: TBA, expected to including four works including “Boys for Beauty”

For more information on screenings and other activities, please visit https://queereast.org.uk

For media use, please download media stills from http://bit.ly/qe2021press