Queer East Festival set for UK tour showcasing queer Asian films

A film festival highlighting queer cinema from East and Southeast Asia begins a tour of the UK this month.

The Queer East Festival tour, On The Road, runs until December and will showcase some of the best up-and-coming movies from the regions.

Created to address the lack of decent representation in the media, the festival was formed in 2020 and has grown into a landmark for diverse and authentic queer films. Supported by the National Lottery and the British Film Institute, it aims to “showcase boundary-pushing LGBTQ+ cinema, live arts and moving image work.”

The organisers said: “Global events over the past few years have again reminded us that fair and authentic racial and sexual representation is crucial for our society.

“Through a diverse and forward-thinking programme, the festival aims to amplify the voices of Asian communities and challenge the conventional norms, labels and stereotypes associated with queer Asian portrayals.”

Its latest programme will visit Exeter, Bristol, Glasgow, Leeds, Edinburgh, Brighton, Liverpool, Cambridge, Bradford, Sheffield, Manchester, Newcastle, Birmingham, Kent, Leicester, Belfast and Nottingham.

“With its fifth-anniversary edition, Queer East Festival reaffirms a commitment to diversifying the cultural landscape in the UK and to serving as a platform that nurtures dialogue on the multi-faceted understandings of what it means to be Asian and queer today,” the organisers added.

The programmes will also include a series of special events, including film introductions, Q&As and panel discussions.

Among the films being screened is A Song Sung Blue, from China, which follows 15-year-old Xian during the summer after she moves in with her free-spirited father. The film was nominated for a Queer Palm and Golden Camera award at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

Also on offer is the Japanese 1974 cult-classic, Bye Bye Love, which was thought lost until 2018. This adapted reprint, organisers said, gives audiences a “rare chance to revisit the radical work of 1970s Japanese cinema”.

Other films, from the likes of Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines, include The Last Year of Darkness, I Am What I Am, The River, Love Bound, The Missing and Asog.

Venues and highlighted films are subject to change.

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