27/11(Fri) 9:50pm/BCBuy

In English with English Subtitles
USA / 2009 / Colour / 102min
Director: John Cameron Mitchell
Cast: Sook-Yin Lee, Paul Dawson, Lindsay Beamish

John Cameron Mitchell‘s Shortbus explores the lives of several emotionally challenged characters as they navigate the comic and tragic intersections between love and sex in and around a modern-day underground salon. A sex therapist who has never had an orgasm, a dominatrix who is unable to connect, a gay couple who are deciding whether to open up their relationship, and the people who weave in and out of their lives, all converge on a weekly gathering called Shortbus, a mad nexus of art, music, politics and polysexual carnality. In a post-9/11, Bush-exhausted New York City, Shortbus tells its story with sexual frankness, suggesting new ways to reconcile questions of the mind, pleasures of the flesh and imperatives of the heart.

30/11(Mon) 7:50pm/IFCBuy

In Korean with English Subtitles
South Korea / 2006 / Colour / 114 min
Director: Leesong Hee-il
Cast: Lee Han, Lee Young Hoon

Leaving the country orphanage where he grew up, Sumin (Lee Young-Hoon) comes to Seoul to study art design. However, after losing his job at a factory due to layoffs, he finds himself working as a prostitute in a gay bar. Initially Sumin resists the advances of Jaemin (Lee Han) who comes from a rich and conservative family that doesn’t accept his sexual identity, and who tries everything he can to win Sumin’s heart. Eventually, Sumin succumbs to Jaemin’s advances. But after experiencing a brief happiness as passionate lovers, Sumin and Jaemin’s relationship falls into heartache and tragedy. Director Leesong’s characters, as tangibly vivid as in his short films, are propelled toward an unexpected ending that will be remembered as sorrowful yet surprisingly beautiful.

29/11(Sun) 9:50pm/IFCBuy

In Mandarin with English Subtitles
China / 1996 / Colour / 93min
Director: Zhang Yuen
Cast: Jun Hu, Si Han, Zhao Wei

After a random night raid in a local park, a young gay writer, A-Lan, is held for an intensive one-on-one interrogation. Unwanted memories offer glimpses of A-Lan’s tumultous childhood, first sexual experiences, forced farm labour, and his incessant search for love. Through the night, the interrogating officer confronts feelings that alternate between revulsion and fascination. An awkward love story unfolds.

In English
Australia / 2002 / Colour / 90min
Director: Tony Ayres
Cast: Vince Colosimo, Maria Theodorakis
Special Selection in World AIDS Movies Day (29/11)

Terminally ill Gavin’s two best friends Charlie and Bernadette have promised to help him to die. When the time comes however, a massive overdose of morphine doesn’t work and Charlie ends up slipping a plastic bag over Gavin’s head. This failure to provide the dignified death that they had all planned is the beginning of an emotional rollercoaster which takes Charlie and Bernadette through the highs and lows of the grief experience – from illicit affairs to devastating accusations and unwitting betrayals. Walking on Water is a refreshingly unsentimental and unexpectedly funny film about how people deal with loss. Some of these responses are small – others are big; at the end of the day, Charlie and Bernadette are forced to face the true meaning of friendship, loyalty and love.

26/11(Thu) 9:40pm/IFCBuy

In Dutch / English with English Subtitles
Netherlands / 1992 / Colour / 92 min
Director: Roeland Kerbosch
Cast: Maarten Smit, Andrew Kelley

In 1944, 12-year-old Jeroen is sent to Friesland to escape wartime shortages. Placed in the loving care of a fisherman’s family, who nurture the withdrawn and isolated boy, he remains a spectator in the games which mark the beginning of sexuality – that is until the Allies arrive, bewitching the villagers with their uniforms, their weapons and their small talk. Walt, who teaches Jeroen the joys of the Jitterbug and the Jive, particularly captivates Jeroen. From this, a powerful relationship is formed.