31 tl for Taiwan Gay Film: Blue Gate Crossg, 5 Lsons Happs: Ltle Man, 5 Lsons Happs: Baby Maybe, Your Voice, My Heart, Yandai Byway No.10, Dear Tenant, Your Name Engraved Here, Artemisia, Taiwan Equals Love and Days" name="scriptn
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TAIWAN GAY FILM
Set agast the uncertaty of Taiwan’s transn om dictatorship to mocracy, this landmark film als wh important ntemporary issu such as ternalized homophobia and fay rejectn, makg not only a powerful drama but also a highly signifint retrospective on Taiwan’s ls clive past. Deadbeat Alex ns away to Taiwan, leavg personal problems and a pregnant girliend the Philipp, and meets Jerry, an Atayal medil stunt who fears his parents will reject him bee he was gay. In addn to featurg some geo shots of southern Yilan County, the film stands out for s sensive handlg of homosexualy digeno muni, an unrreprented subject Taiwane queer movi.
Heartbreakgly ank, director Huang Hui-chen expos the srs of a lifetime of shame and homophobia this eply personal documentary about her and her lbian mother, A-nu, who is also a Taoist prits. Where Your Name Engraved Here dramatiz taboo homosexualy to a story of love agast the odds, Small Talk sticks unflchgly to s bter tth. A tense fay melodrama, Dear Tennant div to issu faced by queer fai as well as homophobia and genr rol tradnal Taiwane fai.
While the film’s universal theme of love helps reach a wi dience, the vivid pictn of the challeng gay men faced the past reflects jt how far Taiwan’s LGBTQ muny has e. “[The] LGBTQ movement was non-existent and gay guys were still livg the ‘unrground liftyle’ that wasn’t really accepted by mastream society. ” Dpe the more liberal perspective, beg gay remaed taboo.
'DEAR EX': A MAN DI, LEAVG BEHD A WIFE, A SON AND A SECRET GAY LOVER
“Most gay men still chose to live a very low-key life bee the prsure of havg their sexuali exposed remaed high, ” said Chi, the proment LGBTQ rights activist who began the fight for marriage equaly Taiwan 1986. “We ed psdo nam when we tried to meet other gay men parks, and we avoid sharg phone numbers wh strangers easily.
” Livg fear and disguiseApart om reflectg the supprsive social atmosphere, Your Name Engraved Here also shows the harsh reali gay stunts faced school. One character who is spected of beg gay is physilly bullied by classmat.
’” While Cheng wasn’t old enough to experience life as a gay man the late 1980s, he did have to force himself to assiate to the social norm that “man should love woman, ” as a junr high school stunt. “I was livg unr a lot of fear and I had to hi my inty as someone gay nstantly. “I don’t want the movie to be labelled jt as a ‘gay film, ’” Liu said.