Clocking in at a record 54 submissions, this year’s Hong Kong Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (HKLGFF) will showcase a diverse array of voices including two brand new categories, one for bisexual-themed movies entitled ‘Bi the way’ and ‘Les porn.’ The three other categories include ‘Asia,’ ‘Youth’ and ‘Panorama.’ The festival will run from Sept. 18 and close on Oct. 5.
Opening the event are two films, one by Academy Award winner Steven Soderbergh and the other a Teddy Award drama. Behind the Candelabra features Michael Douglas as famed entertainer Liberace and Matt Damon as his 17-year-old love interest Scott Thorson. The other is the drama Concussion, the story of a 42-year-old lesbian in a dull marriage with another woman when her life is upended after getting hit on the head.
Also being featured is the Travis Matthews-helmed production Interior. Leather Bar starring James Franco. The project examines some forty minutes of footage that was cut from the original film Cruising directed by William Friedkin.
French contributions are also notable at the festival. Blue Is The Warmest Color (from the graphic erotic novel Le Bleu Est Une Couleur Chaude) is a three hour lyrical exploration of love between two women that had the distinct honor to be awarded the Palme d’Or to both director and two actresses at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Stranger by The Lake (L’inconnu du lac) writer-director Alain Guiraudie skillfully blends eroticism and suspense together, combining two genres into one film so perfectly that the film wins both the Directing Prize of Un Certain Regard and Queer Palme of this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
The new ‘Bi the way’ category highlights the further marginalized bisexuals within the queer community who cannot be easily recognized at first glance. Presented by Goethe-Institut, Free Fall captures the unbearable weight of being a bisexual man in the police force while The Happy Sad explores sexual diversity with two couples being caught intertwined when they create new relationship norms and identities.
