For more information on how to become a HKLGFF member, check out the ‘membership’ section or click on the following link to download membership form.

PALACE IFC (IFC) HK$75
Address: Podium L1, IFC Mall, 8 Finance Street, Central
(MTR Hong Kong Station – Exit F)

AMC Festival Walk (AMC FW) HK$65
Address: Level U/G, Festival Walk, 80 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon
(MTR Kowloon Tong Station – Exit C)

Opening & Closing Gala
Spring Fever – Opening Gala (20 Nov 2009)
Time: 7:40
Venue: AMC Festival Walk
$150 (Film + Party with complimentary drink + lucky draw)

Beautiful Crazy – Opening Gala (20 Nov 2009)
Time: 9:45
Venue: PALACE IFC
$150 (Film + Party with complimentary drink + lucky draw)

Drool – Closing Gala (1 Dec 2009)
Time: 8:00
Venue: PALACE IFC
$120 (Film + Party with complimentary drink + lucky draw)

Proceeds to the Hong Kong Lesbian and Gay Film Festival Society.

Special Offers:

1. 20% off on any ticket for Broadway Cinematheque VIP members for Broadway Cinematheque.

2. 15% off on any ticket for Broadway Cinematheque VIP members for PALACE IFC and AMC Festival Walk.

3. 10% off on any ticket (opening move excepted) for members for Hong Kong Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.(In Box Office Only)

Ticketing:

1. Tickets available at the box office and auto-ticketing machine of Broadway Cinematheque, PALACE IFC and AMC Festival Walk.

2. Online Ticketing:
bc.cinema.com.hk (BC & IFC),
www.amccinemas.com.hk (AMC FW)

3. Phone Ticketing:2388 3188(BC),2388 6268(IFC), 2265 8933(AMC FW)

$6 handling fee will be charged on each ticket purchased online or by phone.

Enquiry: 2388 0002 (BC), 2388 6268 (IFC), 2265 8933( AMC)
BC VIP Member Hotline:2783 7004

Tickets Available on 1 Nov

The Film Categories of all the films in the programme are not yet known at the time of going to press. There might be some changes in terms of the duration of the films and its duration. Please refer to the latest notice or censorship certificate posted at the cinema.

30/11(Fri)9:50pm/BCBuy

In Mandarin with English subtitles
China, Hong Kong and France
2009 / Colour / 115min
Director: Lou Ye
Cast: Hao Qin, Zhuo Tan, Chen Si Cheng
Cast Attend

It’s Spring time and Jiang Cheng is going through a special journey with his friends Luo Haitao and Li Jing on the picturesque Nanjing coast. The three are entangled in complicated romantic relationships, both homosexual and heterosexual, in an unforeseen love triangle. The film reveals the complexity and deep jealousy of obsessive love from the three protagonists’ disparate perspectives. This is director Lou Ye’s opus, a film with a strong sense of the humanity and sentimentality of a marginalised sub-culture and life in China, as generally represented by the “6th generation of China’s Directors”. Lou Ye’s coaxes probably the most passionate homosexual performance in the history of China’s cinema from his actors.

21/11(Sat)7:50pm/BCBuyTrailer

In Mandarin with English Subtitles
Taiwan / 2009 / Colour / 94min
Director: Chi Y Lee
Cast: Amiya Lee, Chien-hui Liao, Angel Yao
Cast Attend

Beautiful Crazy charts the rocky relationships between four young Taiwanese, following the trials and tribulations of young love, gay and straight. Flitting through time and memory, director Chi Y Lee centers the story on the relationship between Angel and Xiao-Bu, introduced as schoolgirl best friends. As we leap to the present, Angel, her boyfriend, and female friend Ah-mi are involved in complex three-way affair. Meanwhile Xiao-Bu has fallen upon hard times, living with her comatose alcoholic father. The lives three of the girls are inextricably interlinked, as we find out as the action unfolds. Beautiful Crazy is captivating cinema beautifully filmed by Dutch/Indonesian documentary filmmaker Leonard Retel Helmrich.

The Hong Kong Lesbian and Gay Film Festival has now lasted for two decades. This is a testament to the work of our pioneers like Edward Lam and Wouter Barendretch, and the first generation team of HKLGFF who helped us to build up a solid foundation. The first HKLGFF was a small event held at the Arts Centre, these days we’ve got three cinemas showing our films to an audience in the thousands.

The most exciting development is that today we have queer film-makers covering so many different themes in their movies. These range from the traditional themes like coming out and gay marriage to hot topics like adoption. These movies have become so much more than just a form of entertainment. During the two weeks of the festival we will learn so much about queer lives and themes from across the world.

For me this is also a very emotional year to have the 20th anniversary of the Hong Kong Lesbian & Gay Film festival. My dear friend Wouter, the executive director of this festival, passed away at the beginning of the year. So as director, my challenge this year is to produce a festival deserving of his memory.

I hope that you will enjoy this biggest queer event in Hong Kong. Remember to vote for your favourite film this year at www.hklgff.hk. Let’s celebrate our 20th anniversary, and drink a toast to our dear friend Wouter!

Joe Lam
Director of HKLGFF 2009

I got involved with the HKLGFF back in 2004 when I met Denise. I was a fresh graduate and wanted to get involved. Little did I know that eighteen months later Denise would ask me whether I was interested in taking over the festival.

Taking about being thrown into the deep end. Fast.

There is no faster way to learn how to get a job done than being put into a position to have to get it done no matter what, and thankfully, I work with some wonderful colleagues who help in every way to ensure that we deliver the festival that the community expects us to.

It is impossible to program a film festival that can satisfy everybody, but I do believe in the power of films to evoke passion and discussion: one of my favourite moments during the HKLGFF is when an audience member approaches me to discuss a film that they either loved or loathed. The exchange of different point of views never fails to excite me.

Of course, the most rewarding aspects is seeing the community together as one. To see people come to screenings, dance with our guests at parties, or just meet up with each other, enjoying an event that, to my delight, really matters to the queer community in Hong Kong. There are times when I would be stressed and exhausted, but there would be someone who would come up to me at a party, saying thank you. It is these little moments that make all the hard work worthwhile.

Vicci Ho
Director of HKLGFF 2006–08

So immediately Wouter and I started fund-raising. Wouter used his reputation to gain credibility for the festival. He enlisted the support of the “Who’s Who” of Hong Kong’s film industry: Shu Kei, Stanley Kwan, Chris Doyle and Fortissimo partner, Michael Werner. With these names on our list, we were able to get donations from Agnes b and G.O.D. Soon afterwards, Rice Bar and Club Propaganda joined forces to host the parties. Wouter’s connection with international distributors and filmmakers enabled the Festival to secure films at low rental fees and sometimes for free. We partnered with AIDS Concern, and were exempted from the censorship board. Finally in 2000, the new HKLGFF was resurrected!

It was tough work but it was also a lot of fun at the same time. Were it not for Wouter, I don’t think the festival would have re-started so smoothly. He was basically the lubricant for the entire event. In fact, Wouter always played that role in life. His presence seemed to make any sticky situation easier, more fun and joyful. He was charming, funny and “ba-gua”. He would know everybody in a gay bar, from the barman to the cleaning lady. He spoke to everyone, sometimes with a sexual agenda (cleaning lady exempt!) but most of the time it was purely out of friendliness and the desire to connect with people.

With his passing, the festival has lost its Executive Director, a leader who was not only a global authority on Gay and Lesbian films, but who also had connections to the international film world. He was a man whose lifelong desire was to push the course of LGBT equality rights. There were plenty of occasions when Wouter would be infuriated, arguing over sexual discrimination in Hong Kong, He was riled by the the fact that so many people could not come out to their families and that many lovers have to break up because one of the partners had to keep the relationship a secret. It was at these moments that you saw past the friendly and carefree veneer to a guy who was deeply passionate about life and love.

Personally, I have lost not only a very dear friend but a comrade in all aspects. We met in 1997, aptly enough at the screening of “Happy Together’ in Cannes. Wouter was the sales agent for “Happy Together”, I was there as a guest of a good friend who had worked on the film. We walked on the red carpet, with the likes of Wong Kar Wai, Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung and Ang Lee. As we approached the screening hall, Wouter was the one who came up to say hello to me. I was not a celebrity but he took the time to see where I was sitting and made sure I knew where the after party was held and he wasn’t even trying to pick me up! He was just a considerate and caring person. That was how Wouter was. It didn’t matter who you are, Wouter genuinely liked people and was always generous and giving with his friendship, connections and time.

I hope that the HKLGFF will carry on forever. This would be Wouter’s legacy, and what he worked so hard to establish. It should be treasured and cherished. As Wouter always used to say: “You don’t have to be gay to enjoy a gay movie!” So bring your brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, share the popcorn and enjoy your stories on the silver screen!

Ray Yeung
Presented by

Total Running Time : 88min

In these funny and poignant shorts from the US, Canada, and Israel, lesbian drama transcends age, location, and experience. Whether it be the misdirected crush, a humiliating date or a turning point in a relationship, these girls all face their own learning curves for romance.

SALAMANDER
USA / 18min / Video
Director: Jen Heck

An accidental moment of intimacy sparks one girl to turn on another, revealing the intricacies of adolescent friendship and saving an amphibious life.

FALLING FOR CAROLINE
Canada / 2009 / 20min
Director: Christine Chew
To win the girl of her dreams, a klutzy young woman must overcome a wardrobe malfunction and the bad lesbian habit of overprocessing.

SON OF THE PREACHER
Canada / 2008 / 6min
Director: Jasmine Gervais
Billy, the son of the preacher, secretly falls for a mysterious and pretty new parishioner.

THE OTHER WAR
Israel / 2008 / 44min
In Hebrew with English subtitles
Director: Tamar Glezerman
A film about Israel, militarism and denial, but mainly about love.

Total Running Time : 91min

These guys will find inspiration anywhere: L.A. emo kids in thrift stores, gentleman grifters in hustlers, and mama’s boys in gay porn mags. They might confront unique challenges, but these crafty lads all understand the old adage: “To thy self be true.”

SIDNEY TURTLEBAUM
UK / 2008 / 18min
Director: Tristram Shapeero
An eccentric gay Jewish man meets a teenaged hustler, thus opening up his strange world to the innocent eyes of his young new friend.

DISH
USA / 2009 / 16min
Director: Brian Harris Krinsky
Emo kids Israel and Louie walk around their East Los Angeles neighborhood dishing about their high school classmates.

DIRTY MAGAZINES
USA / 2008 / 39min
Director: Jay J. Levy
An absurd comedy about how a mother/son relationship changes after a devoted mom finds gay porn underneath her son’s bed on the morning of his 16th birthday.

JAMES
Ireland / 2008 / 18min / Video
Director: Connor Clements
When James realizes long buried secrets can lead to poor family relations, he feels it’s time to confide with his only