from bjqff.com

By Ariella Tai

Beijing Queer Film Festival, a biennial celebration of gay, lesbian and queer films held biannually, recently enjoyed its tenth year running.  On Artspace China, Christen Cornell conducts an interview with the festival’s executive director, Yang Yang.  Yang has been with the festival since the beginning, providing an essential space for the queer and allied communities of Beijing despite the fear of government pressure.  She observes, “…we always have an audience. It’s funny, other film festivals spend all their time and energy on promotion, while our biggest concern is keeping the festival quiet so as not to inform the police. But then once the festival begins, the people come. The people just come naturally.”  The overall curator of the 2011 program, Chinese-American filmmaker Doris Yeung, however, held the underground nature of the Chinese LGBT scene in comparison to America 25 years ago.  Cornell muses, “this was an exciting thing, as if the underground nature of China’s queer community gives it extra energy.”

This year’s festival was able to profile prestigious filmmakers such as Barbara Hammer and Mickey Chen.  The international section of the program was guest-curated by the Mumbai International Queer Film Festival and this year premiered a new section focusing on the work of overseas Chinese filmmakers.  Many of these films do not only focus on queer issues, but on other questions of identity.  This open environment and encouragement to learn and reflect seems to be what draws many young people to the screenings.

CC: I wonder if your festival provides an opportunity for all kinds of young Chinese people to express their ideas about sexuality. I met a number of young, straight people at the opening last night and they seemed very curious to learn and think about sexuality generally, without feeling the need to ‘fit in’.

YY: That’s one of the aims of the festival. If only I could have attended a festival like this when I was a teenager – something that showed me there were so many different possibilities, so many different choices and ways of being – I would have been so much happier.

I’m not gay, although I find it hard to pinpoint what I am. In the preface to the festival program I call myself a straight gay [laughs], or a ‘zhitongzhi’, which is a Chinese word that suggests you’re straight but gay friendly. Or something like that. But I think I’m more queer. Yes. I’d just say I’m ku’er.

When I was in my teens, and even throughout my twenties, I experienced so many feelings of uncertainty and confusion. It was a difficult time. I was always doubting myself – I felt like I had too many ideas, too many questions. I used to wonder if I was different from other people, if maybe there was something wrong with me.

And then I started to watch films, and I realised that there were other people out there who had these same kinds of questions and confusion. I realised that that sense of uncertainty is actually really important in figuring out who you are, and it doesn’t necessarily come to an end. So perhaps I just wasn’t like a lot of those ‘normal’ people, but I wasn’t a ‘gay’ or a ‘la la’ [a ‘lesbian’] either. I didn’t have a fixed identity.

So I think that if I can give these young people the chance to think about these things then that’s a good thing. You don’t necessarily have to be a particular kind of person, you don’t have to look a certain way. Watching these films gives you the chance to see other people’s lives, to ask if you are like that too, or to realise that you are not. It gives you the chance to ask yourself: Who am I, really? If you keep on thinking and living this way then you are free, and that is a very good thing.

CC: The way you’re speaking makes the ‘queer’ in the festival title sound more like a philosophy than an identity. It’s a kind of attitude, a way of approaching life.

YY: Maybe it’s not a bad thing to have someone like me running a festival like this because I’m not a lesbian, I’m not gay, and usually gay and lesbians don’t always get along. They don’t work together so well, so it works quite well to put me in the middle. [laughs] This way I don’t have represent anybody, but just let everybody else speak instead.

To learn more about queer life and history in China, watch Enter the Clowns and Queer China, ‘Comrade’ China by Cui Zi’en.

Relevant Classroom Use

Betelnut (dir. Yang Heng)

DGENERATE FILMS EVENTS FOR THE WEEK OF 3/07/11-3/13/11

Betelnut at the Centre for Contemporary Arts

Tuesday, March 8 at 7:00 PM

Address:
350 Sauchiehall Street
Glasgow, United Kingdom

Description:
“Pure cinema” – Susanna Harutyunyan, FIPRESCI – The International Federation of Film Critics

“Exquisite!” – Tony Rayns, Film Comment

Along a sleepy Hunan riverside, two delinquent boys experience a summer of love and violence in Yang Heng’s visually stunning debut.

Tickets are free, they will be awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis.  Call the CCA Box Office on 0141 352 4900 to reserve your ticket.

Queer China at Pomona College

Thursday, March 10

Address:
Pomona College
333 North College Way
Claremont, CA

Description:

Best Documentary at the Lisbon Gay and Lesbian Film Festival

Directed by Cui Zi’en, China’s leading queer theorist, activist and scholar, the documentary includes rarely seen footage of the first ever appearance of gays and lesbians on  State television, including Cui Zi’en himself.

Ghost Town at Cornell Cinema

Friday, March 11 at 7:00 PM

Screening as part of the “China Now” Film Series

Address:
Cornell Cinema
104 Willard Straight Hall
Ithaca, Illinois

Description:

“A quiet marvel” – Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

Tucked away in a rugged corner of Yunnan Province, Lisu and Nu minority villagers squat in the abandoned halls of this remote former Community county seat. Divided into three parts,  Ghost Town takes an intimate look at its varied cast of characters, bringing audiences face to face with people left behind by China’s new economy.

Tickets are $7 for the general public, $5.50 for seniors, and $4 for students and kids 12 and under.  Advance Sale Tickets can be purchased at the Willard Straight Hall Ticket Desk, or at the box office, which opens 20 minutes before the scheduled showtime.

For a full list of upcoming events, visit our Events Page.

Relevant Classroom Use

Queer China, 'Comrade' China (dir. Cui Zi'en)

The current issue of Video Librarian includes a review of one of our hottest titles, Cui Zi’en’s Queer China, ‘Comrade China’. Here’s an excerpt from the review:

Openly gay filmmaker Cui Zi’en helmed this chronicle of the changes and developments in the LGBT community in China from the 1930s through the early years of the 21st century. China was relatively late in openly acknowledging basic civil rights for its homosexual population; in fact, the Communist goverment didn’t decriminalize “hooliganism,” as it was officially known, until 1997, and the acceptance of non-heterosexuals into mainstream Chinese society has been awkward… Queer China, ‘Comrade’ China includes frank interviews with more than three dozen scholars, activists, filmmakers, and writers, combined with rarely seen footage of the first-ever appearance of gays and lesbians on state television… This is a genuinely fascinating look at a continually evolving segment of Chinese society. Recommended.

Relevant Classroom Use

Lesbian wedding in China (Photo from crtv.nl)

by Isabella Tianzi Cai

In a “Letter from China” column for the New York Times on September 1, 2010, Howard W. French elaborates on China’s changing attitude towards queer culture based on his personal observations in Shanghai. Having worked and lived in Shanghai for just under a decade, French is well aware of Chinese people’s increasing psychological tolerance towards homosexuals in their midst.

French says that it is most evident in “public intimacy between women,” which he supports in the letter by recounting a few of his personal experiences, most memorably, witnessing two teenage girls kissing passionately in a Shanghai subway car, without regard for the older passengers watching them with consternation. It should be noted that this incident is without precedent; a similar event in 2008 was captured on video and created a stir when posted on the internet.

French offers his understanding of this social phenomenon:

As this society rapidly grows richer, its social fabric and mores have been changing in ways far more dramatic than even the physical landscape, and sexual choice and expression are arguably in the leading edge of this upheaval.

Although this trend, as articulated by French, is more or less inevitable, the transition from a conservative society to a liberal one is neither as easy or as fast as he makes it out to be.

In this vast country boasting the world’s largest population, French’s observations are but a drop in the ocean. While his experiences are valuable primary sources, this topic on homosexuality is more thoroughly and systematically explored in Cui Zi’en’s documentary Queer China, Comrade China.

Queer China has plenty of scholarly research and news footage to both clarify, correct or enhance conceptions about homosexuality in China. Its scope is wide and its understanding is deep, with rich historical and cultural references. Moreover, its organization of ideas provokes its audience to ask further questions.

Cui Zi’en’s long-established body of work, as a scholar, writer and filmmaker, is enough to prove that the expression and exploration of queer identities in China is nothing new. His groundbreaking debut feature Enter the Clowns caused an international sensation. In the film, Xiao Bo (Yu Bo) lives in a world where the lines defining men from women are constantly dissolving. He kneels at the deathbed of his father (played by Cui) who has become a woman, and whose dying wish is to have oral sex with his/her son. His boyfriend “Nana” has also undergone a sex change, but Xiao Bo no longer finds her attractive as a woman. A sexual chain reaction ensues that wreaks havoc on traditional Chinese roles that govern male and female, parent and child.

French also mentions the “Super, Girls!” singing competition as another example for the “sudden media exposure of lesbian and gay people” “the rapid decline of [restrictive] ideology in most every aspect of Chinese life.” For those who don’t know, this singing competition is a Chinese equivalent of “American Idol.” French interviews Feng Hui, an 18 year old lesbian, who cites “Super, Girls!” champion Li Yuchun for making a “critical breakthrough” for sexual identity and behavior among girls:

Ms. Li, who has sidestepped questions about her sexuality, wore her hair short and dressed in boyish fashions. Moreover, she won singing love songs written for men about women.

“Li Yuchun is the mother of unisex in China, and her comfort with herself inspired a whole generation of women like me,” said Ms. Feng.

But how do the young in China approach these issues of personal freedom, in their identities, their behaviors, and their pursuit of “alternative” lifestyles? The answers to these questions can be found in Jian Yi’s documentary Super, Girls! Jian allows his subjects sufficient space and freedom to explore these topics and express themselves, not within the context of the “adult” world, but on their own terms. The resulting film is a powerful exploration of the youth culture of contemporary China.

Relevant Classroom Use

Queer China, 'Comrade China' (dir. Cui Zi'en)

By Isabella Tianzi Cai

In the online film journal Film Threat, Phil Hall recently reviewed Cui Zi’en’s ‘Queer China, Comrade China’, calling it “a genuinely fascinating look at Chinese sociology in a state of continual evolution.”

Hall’s review reiterates the issues raised in Cui’s work, which examines China’s LGBT culture and history through a number of insightful interviews from various political, historical, cultural, legal, as well as psychological viewpoints. He condenses the first half of the documentary as follows:

China was relatively late in openly acknowledging the basic civil rights of its homosexual population – it wasn’t until 1997 that the Communist government decriminalized “hooliganism,” as it was officially known. However, the acceptance of non-heterosexuals into a mainstream societal position has been complicated, although the resistance bears no resemblance to the religious-fueled homophobia that has become commonplace in the United States. Indeed, the film explains that same-sex unions are seen by many as a disruption of the yin-yang harmony within the Chinese mindframe and the disruption of the cohesive family unit that was stressed since Mao Zedong’s rise to power.

Relevant Classroom Use

At CinemAsia Film Festival in Amsterdam this year, Chinese queer activist, writer, and filmmaker Cui Zi’en’s Queer China, ‘Comrade’ China was selected for an official screening followed by a panel discussion titled “Queer Asian Imagination.” The film was grouped with eight other LGBT films in the Queer and Asia program, a key component of CinemAsia. Cui met with the program attendees after the film and answered their inquiries about LGBT culture in China. Below are some YouTube videos documenting the Q&A session with Cui. Also present at the discussion were Michiel Baas from the International Institute for Asian Studies, Hong Kong filmmaker Kit Hung, CinemAsia board member Jeroen de Kloet, as well as Yang Jin, who appears in the film.  In the videos below, Cui’s answers in Chinese are omitted, but were spoken in English by a translator (seen in the orange shirt).

Cui points out one major difference distinguishing Chinese gay population from that elsewhere in the world. “Many young Chinese gay and lesbians, they also go to gay bars,” he says. “But one difference is in China, they also aspire to get married as heterosexuals. I think that’s one of the biggest difference.”

Cui also notes the tension between the state and gay cinema in China today. He says, “The law environment in China is very different in terms of filmmaking. There are thirteen prohibitions in China in terms of movie-making. One of them is that you are not allowed to make a gay-themed film. That’s why you can’t see gay-related films in mainstream cinemas or film festivals. Even a Hollywood movie like Brokeback Mountain, when they tried to enter the Chinese market, it was impossible.”

Part One:

More after the break.

Part Two:

Part Three:

Relevant Classroom Use

Queer China, 'Comrade China' (dir. Cui Zi'en)

The newest issue of the online film journal Senses of Cinema features lengthy reviews by film scholar and Cal Arts professor Berenice Reynaud on new films from Mainland China. Titled  “Men Won’t Cry – Traces of a Repressive Past,” Reynaud covers a dozen international titles that screened at last fall’s Vancouver International Film Festival, giving special attention to four new films from the Mainland, as well as the Hong Kong feature Night and Fog by Ann Hui. Her analysis is particularly astute at discerning issues of identity, gender, power and nationhood in the formal approaches taken by each film. The following are some choice excerpts, though readers are advised to read Reynaud’s appreciations in full:

On Cui Zi’en’s Queer China, ‘Comrade China’

Cui’s most ambitious documentary,Zhi Tongzhi (Queer China, Comrade China). Espousing a more traditional form, and dividing the film in seven chapters, Cui covers incredible ground in a relatively short amount of time (60 minutes)…Fact-filled, yet fun-filled, Cui’s film pays homage to all the tongzhi warriors, male or female, prominent or unknown, who are bringing about what Li describes as a major sexual revolution.

On Oxhide II, Liu Jiayin’s sequel to Oxhide.

Niupi er (Oxhide II) pushes the previous film’s formal radicalism one step further: it breaks down an even smaller domestic space and its 133 minutes into nine shots of uneven lengths and varied angles that go around the table in 45-degree increments (performing a complete 180-degree match). Within this minimalist framework, several layers of emotion/narration intersect. Liu’s shots are carefully, rigorously, exquisitely composed. What is even more amazing is how tension is expressed within the frame, how every gesture, every verbal exchange reorganise the balance of power between the three protagonists.

On Du Haibin’s 1428:

The shadow of lost sons haunts Du Haibin’s 1428, an award-winning (Orizzonti Award in Venice) documentary on the aftermath of the Sichuan earthquake that killed tens of thousands of people, rendered millions homeless and turned the Beichuan area into piles of rubble. Echoing Du’s previous works (such as Tielu yanxian [Along the Railway, 2001] San [Umbrella, 2007]), it is shot in hybrid cinéma-vérité style, with his subjects freely addressing and interacting with him.

On Pema Tseden’s The Search:

A visual poem, as well as a bittersweet song of cultural identity, The Search unfolds at two levels: the classical codes of cinematic representation, and issues pertaining to “the national” (an ambiguous term, if any, for Tibetans born in the Chinese province of Qinghai)… Pema’s immense talent, however, prevents The Search from being yet another film about trying-to-make-a-film; with subtle humour, melancholic accuracy, and impeccable dignity, it opens a too-rare vista into what moves and ails the Tibetan men of his generation.

Read Reynaud’s full review.

Queer China, ‘Comrade China’, Oxhide, 1428 and Oxhide 2 (coming soon) are distributed by dGenerate Films.

Relevant Classroom Use

Super, Girls! (dir. Jian Yi)

This recent article on CNN caught our eye, as it deals with what may be an emerging next wave of the digital filmmaking in China we at dGenerate heartily support. The article cites the explosion of user generated content on Chinese video sites like Youku and Tudou, which one analyst describes as ”An unleashing of creativity like the world has never seen.”

Here’s the skinny from the article:

While the bulk of the content on popular Chinese video sites consists of domestic and foreign movies and television programs, a growing share of material is coming from Chinese who are picking up cameras, filming the world around them and sharing it with others for the very first time.

This may not seem extraordinary elsewhere, yet the growth of user-generated content represents a major shift in the way China watches itself and the way the world watches China.

That last line resonates a lot with the mission of China’s dGeneration of filmmakers; thanks to the accessibility of digital video and their own mission to document issues that couldn’t pass through state censorship, these filmmakers brought a radical new element to China’s art and media landscape.  However, the ongoing challenge for these filmmakers has been to break out of a small, relatively confined circuit of underground festivals and other distribution channels in China, so that a greater audience can access these films and the important stories they uncover.

Along these lines, it’s easy to envy the success stories mentioned in the CNN article and the audiences of millions that they seem to reach with ease. One in particular had me thinking of our film Super, Girls!, Jian Yi’s documentary on would-be pop stars auditioning for China’s American Idol.  Reading the following, I wonder if the subjects of Super, Girls! might have tried a different route to singing stardom.

Ren Yueli is now on the verge of stardom after pedestrians filmed the 21-year-old performing in a Beijing subway station and shared the clips on the Internet. The videos have been viewed over 3 million times.

Ren sang in the station for four years, sending most of the money she collected back to her disabled parents in the nearby province of Hebei. She is now working on signing a record contract and makes regular appearances on local TV shows.

But more importantly, can the same success be found online by the socially-minded dGeneration filmmakers? There’s a difference between posting clips of cute girls singing and posting videos dealing with issues like urban displacement or gay rights. Still, the article suggests that there’s a place for such content on these video sites, so long as it’s presented in a way that subtly cloaks its content to avoid the censors:

A 64-minute animated movie titled The War of Internet Addiction is one example. The film, using footage from virtual game World of Warcraft, criticizes Internet censorship in China among other themes. Since it was posted on Youku.com on January 21, more than 10 million have watched.

Would many of the films we distribute pass muster on the internet in China, attracting audiences while avoiding censors? It remains to be seen. But these sites are most definitely a portal for these artists to seek an audience for their work, if they can figure out the rules of engagement. And those rules are always changing…

Relevant Classroom Use

Xiaodai Muyi (photo courtesy of Worldwide Mr. Gay)

Following up on the saga that unfolded last month over the Mr. Gay China pageant, it turns out that after the pageant had been shut down by the Beijing police, the organizers of the event went ahead and sent a delegate to the Worldwide Mr. Gay competition in Oslo, Norway. The delegate went on to finish third runner up in the competition, which concluded February 14.

In an added twist, the delegate, Xiaodai Muyi, is a 25 year old Chinese Muslim from Xinjiang province. Xinjiang has long experienced social turmoil between ethnic Han and Muslim Chinese, that exploded into deadly riots last summer.

According to a report published by AFP, Xiaodai runs an AIDS prevention organisation in Urumqi, the capital of China’s restive Xinjiang region. In a New York Times article, he states, ““Organizing gay events in Xinjiang is much harder than in Beijing… because it is against religion.”

“I’m scared to go back to Urumqi, not for myself but I’m scared that it will impact my organisation. If the organisation can’t continue its work, that will be no good,” he told AFP by phone from Beijing, where he is currently staying.

For more on the history and social issues concerning queer culture in China, check out the documentary Queer China, ‘Comrade China’ by Cui Zi’en.

Relevant Classroom Use

Event organizer Ben Zhang relayed the cause given by the police: “”They said the content, meaning homosexuality, there’s nothing wrong with that, but you did not do things according to procedures.” But the AP report states that “Chinese police frequently cite procedural reasons for closing down gatherings deemed politically sensitive, and authorities have harassed gays in the past.”

Eight men were due to compete with each one hoping to be picked to go forward the Worldwide Mr Gay pageant in Norway next month.  The event was to include a fashion show, swimwear and talent competition, and a host in drag.

The organizers are considering having the judges select one contestant to send to the world competition.

Contestant Jay Jia gave Sky News his own account on the state of gay culture in Beijing:

When I left in 2002 you couldn’t even find a gay bar. That’s all changed now, at least in the big cities. But I still haven’t come out and I definitely haven’t told my employers or my workmates… My parents don’t know and they are always trying to find girls for me to take out.

Organizer Ryan Dutcher maintained an upbeat tone, telling Reuters, “The gay community here in the four years that I’ve been in Beijing — it’s a difference between night and day. It’s much better than it was before. I’m not saying things are going to get worse. Things are only going to get better.”

For more on the history and social issues concerning queer culture in China, check out the documentary Queer China, ‘Comrade China’ by Cui Zi’en.

Relevant Classroom Use