Imagine what life would be like if we didn’t have the Lesbian & Gay film festival in Hong Kong (HKLGFFF). Imagine if we didn’t have the right to march in the streets during Gay Pride. Here in Hong Kong we are blessed that the festival is still running, but there are many places in the world that cannot even show queer movies, where people’s basic human rights are taken away because of their sexuality.

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 can’t logically explain how it all began.

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

There is something to be said about the longest running lesbian and gay film festival in Asia (although with Asia’s geographical vastness, we are never sure if we are really the “longest running”). There is also something to be said about what the future holds for the festival. And here I can only put forth my best imagination. I imagine a festival full of people from all walks of life, like wacky folks, crazy idealists, loyal fans, pragmatic souls and a few “normal” humans. I imagine screening venues beyond cinemas such as secondary school classrooms, youth centres, social service organisations and on those monstrous television screens plastered all over town. I imagine a selection of films and videos that are controversial, warm and fuzzy, local, with lesbians, inter-Asia based and at the very least, pornographic. I imagine media coverage that stretches beyond web forums, pop magazines and the festival website but on the 6:30 news and Ming Pao headlines.

Okay, so maybe the future is partly here and partly there.

Twenty years of discontinuous programming but a steadfast belief in putting on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer cultural representation for all to see. And by the way, a Master’s thesis was also written on the festival itself(ii). In other words, the festival is documented and archived in many forms, in those frantic moments of waiting for others with tickets in our hands, on those worn out festival guides with tea stains on them, and most importantly, in what we truly remember.

Denise Tse Shang Tang
Director of HKLGFF 2004﹣05

ii. Please see Janet Pang’s (2009) Chinese University of Hong Kong MPhil thesis titled – Herstories: The Hong Kong
Lesbian and Gay Film Festival”.