Taiwanese Queer Cinema at 15th Five Flavour Asian Film Festival
Queer cinema: many aesthetics, human stories, and emotions. At Five Flavours, we often demonstrate that cinema has the power to change reality by showcasing the stories of unique protagonists and different points of view. This time, we take a look at stories from Taiwan, whose society is believed to be one of the most progressive in Asia.
In 2019,Taiwan was the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriages. Cinema and pop culture are often named as two of the catalysts that brought about the change in the Taiwanese society’s approach to this matter. The program of the section presents films touching upon various aspects of the lives of LGBTIQ+ community, and representing a wide variety of forms and genres.
Our Section Partner is Kampania Przeciw Homofobii (Campaign Against Homophobia). Together, we will invite you for a debate – an opportunity to to take a closer look not only at the films from the section, but also their social and cultural role, but also to compare the Polish and the Taiwanese perspectives.
The Taiwanese Queer Cinema Section includes seven titles – today we are announcing four of them! They include “Alifu, The Prince/ss,” a phenomenal portrayal of a clash between the big city culture of Taipei with the lifestyle of the local aboriginal tribes. Together with the protagonists of “As We Like It” we find ourselves in an idyllic land of no genders. In “Dear Tenant,” we will face the legal intricacies of a same-sex couple raising a baby. The classic “Eternal Summer,” very important to the local community, will take us to the world of teenage loves and dilemmas of the first serious relationships.
Section Media Partner: Noizz
Alifu, The Prince/ss
dir. Wang Yu-lin, Taiwan 2017
Alifu works in a hair salon, enjoys city life, and dreams of raising enough money for a sex reassignment surgery. But, suddenly, family calls Alifu back to the hometown Alifu grew up in – and where Alifu’s father is the chief of a native community of the island. Vivid traditions of the aboriginal culture and the pulsating lights of the club scene of Taipei – Wang’s dynamic plot is filled with contrasts and fascinating protagonists, who have to face the unexpected.
Dear Tenant
Qinai de fangke, dir. Cheng Yu-chieh, Taiwan 2020
Chien-yi is subletting a space on the roof of an old lady’s apartment. He is cooking for her, takes care of her health, and picks her grandson up from school. The boy is the son of his partner of many years, whose sudden death has left a painful mark on the entire family. When Ms. Chou passes away, things get even more complicated. A criminal mystery, touchingly intertwined with an emotional drama, provokes many questions about the meaning of blood relations and the call of the heart.
As We Like It
Jie da huan xi, dir. Chen Hung-i, Muni Wei, Taiwan 2021
A fairy-tale, futuristic variation of the Shakespearean drama, set in an idyllic land. Two protagonists are staying a special, closed-off district of Taipei, in which the WiFi is gone, and so are the confines of sexes. The candy-sweet, gloriously colorful convention combines the inspiration with Japanese romantic manga and the avant-garde eclectic fashion with the melodramatic traditions of Taiwanese Opera and video game- style ornaments, creating a collage of fantastic images, testing the limits of our imagination.
Eternal Summer
Sheng xia guang nian, dir. Leste Chen, Taiwan 2006
A perfectly composed melodrama about three young people experiencing the passions of love for the first time. Jonathan and Shane were friends since they were kids. Carrie has just moved from Taiwan to Hong Kong. A touching story about true friendships, painful loneliness, and discovering unwanted feelings that can change your life.
Program reveal
We invite you for the announcement of the full program of the 15th Five Flavours Asian Film Festival!
On Tuesday, October 26, at 4 p.m. during a special live studio led by two wonderful journalists, Katarzyna Borowiecka and Adriana Prodeus, we will talk about the greatest hits of the Festival and the ideas behind our choices, we will share this year’s fascinations and themes that were especially moving for us during the selection. The event will also mark the inauguration of the Festival studio, in which we will comment on the discoveries from our program and connect with the guests from Asian on a daily basis.
Watch us live at piecsmakow.pl, facebook.com/piecsmakow and vod.warszawa.pl.
This year’s Festival Studio is created in cooperation with VOD Warszawa and Andrzej Wajda Centre For Film Culture.
This year, the 15th Five Flavours Asian Film Festival will be held in a hybrid form: in Warsaw cinemas between November 17 and 24, and online between November 17 and 29.
Festival Passes for both forms of the Festival are already available.
