Directed by Stanley Kwan • 2001 • Hong Kong, China
Starring Liu Ye, Hu Jun, Huatong Li
Filmed in secret in Beijing, this tender gay romance by Stanley Kwan combines the timeless conventions of classic melodrama with a radically frank depiction of queer intimacy as it traces, over the course of years, the relationship between a wealthy businessman (Hu Jun) and a young architecture student (Liu Ye) as they come together, fall apart over the former’s fear of commitment, and gradually realize that they are fated to be together. Kwan’s expressive visuals and the sensitive lead performances yield a daring, deeply affecting love story that doubles as a haunting reflection on life in post-Mao China in the wake of the Tiananmen Square massacre.
Up Next in LGBTQ+
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Greetings from Washington, D.C.
Directed by Lucy Winer • 1981 • United States
Starring Rob Epstein, Jan Oxenberg, Terry LawlerOn October 14, 1979, LGBTQ+ history was made when tens of thousands of people converged on America’s capital for the first ever National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. This empowering ...
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Ifé
Directed by H. Lenn Keller • 1993 • United States
This stylized short, both sex-positive and slick, follows a day in the life of a Black French lesbian in San Francisco. Ifé loves women but vows never to fall in love. As she extols the beauty of women in San Francisco, she slowly cruises the cit...
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Shinjuku Boys
Directed by Kim Longinotto and Jano Williams • 1995 • United Kingdom
Starring Gaish, Tatsu, KazukiThis remarkable documentary offers rich insight into gender and sexuality in Japan via a candid portrait of Kazuki, Tatsu, and Gaish, three trans masc hosts working at the New Marilyn Club in Tokyo...
