Having its world premiere at this year’s BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival, Summer’s Camera is the feature directorial debut of Divine Sung, a South Korean filmmaker. The film depicts a wonderful and subtle exploration of youth and love. It also captures the theme of self-discovery while painting a portrait of a high school student,…
Category: LGBTQIA+ CINEMA
39th BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival: “Manok” Review
Every metal guitar wants a powerful amplifier. Yang Mal-bok is delightfully animated in Lee Yu-jin’s Manok, a film where zest is absolutely mandatory. Shortly after the first frame’s bright rainbow flag passes us by, we meet the titular Manok, a lively and impulsive bar owner who hosts LGBTQIA+ parade parties in Seoul. In a bold…
39th BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival – “Việt and Nam” Review
If you’re a Vietnamese filmmaker, presenting a story to the world about two star-crossed lovers nicknamed Viet and Nam is all but asking the audience to interpret the trajectory of their relationship as a metaphor for the nation itself. The third film from writer/director Truong Minh Quy attempts to avoid this straightforward categorization due to…
39th BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival – In Conversation with Minh Quý Trương, Director of “Việt and Nam”
Minh Quý Trương, a filmmaker from Buôn Ma Thuột, Vietnam, began his artistic journey by attending film school but dropped out in 2008 to pursue independent filmmaking. His early exposure to cinema led him to participate in the Asian Film Academy and the Berlinale Talents program, which enhanced his passion for storytelling and filmmaking. Trương’s…
39th BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival – “Some Nights I Feel Like Walking” Review
Petersen Vargas draws us into a night of endless possibility in Some Nights I Feel Like Walking, a sensory experience set in the beating heart of Manila. Vibrant lights and a subtly hypnotic ambience immerse us into the thrilling hustle life of four boys, which is slowly unpeeled to its merciless core. We never see…
International Premiere of “The Wedding Banquet” to Open The 39th BFI FLARE: LONDON LGBTQIA+ Film Festival
LGBTQIA+ cinema is more essential than ever, offering visibility, promoting empathy, and challenging societies. It provides a space for storytelling that reflects diverse identities and experiences, creating a sense of belonging for marginalised communities. Festivals like BFI Flare play a crucial role in strengthening these voices, ensuring that queer narratives – whether exploring love, family,…
One Fluid Night LGBTQIA+ Film Festival: A Weekend of Love, Life, and Identity
Launched in September 2023 at Genesis Cinema in East London, One Fluid Night (OFN) is a groundbreaking film event that presents a competition of short films alongside performances by singers, dancers, and cabaret artists, all celebrating the multifaceted themes of life, love, and identity through the lens of international LGBTQIA+ cinema. After a successful year…
26th Far East Film Festival: In Conversation with Eugene Domingo and Jun Lana of “Becky and Badette” – Exclusive Interview
In Becky and Badette, director Jun Lana is facing the social media machine and what those who use it can be willing to do to gain fame. The comedy tackles this subject through Becky and Badette, played by Eugene Domingo and Pokwang. Best friends since their school days, they are in dead-end jobs, completely broke,…
26th Far East Film Festival: In Conversation with Samantha Lee, Director of “Rookie” – Exclusive Interview
Volleyball can be a space for romance, at least that’s what director Samantha Lee has imagined in her Filipino coming-of-age sports film Rookie. The movie opens with Pat Tingjuy’s Ace being transferred to a new school, she may be a skilled basketball player but the nuns at her academy think the sport turns girls into…
Forbidden Jazz and Mending Hearts: “Jazz for Two” Review
Directed by A Shoulder to Cry On’s Song Soo-rim, Jazz for Two is the latest BL drama to yank mercilessly at our heartstrings. Starring Ji Ho-geun as the brooding Han Tae-yi and Kim Jin-kwon as Yoon Se-heon – who’s fresh meat to everyone on campus at Wooyeon Arts School – the drama wastes no time…
VIEW OF THE ARTS 