Queer East Festival set for UK tour showcasing queer Asian films
LGBTQ

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.”

A frame from 2023 film The Missing.
There’s a chance to see animated movie The Missing, from the Philippines. (Supplied/The Missing)

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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