Hong Kong film festival celebrates 37 years of queer cinema
Asia’s longest-running international LGBTQ film festival invites Hong Kong audiences on an emotional, cinematic ride, with a revamped programming featuring six distinct ‘moods’
The global landscape for LGBTQ culture has shifted dramatically since the Hong Kong Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (HKLGFF) debuted in 1989. Over the past 37 years, queer art and media have stepped out of underground venues into a vibrant scene, immortalised locally by icons such as Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing.
The festival’s enduring run attests to the community’s resilience, proving how the transformative power of cinema continues to push the envelope while creating a sanctuary for generations to come.
For its 37th edition, HKLGFF rolls out its largest line-up in years – 37 features and 38 shorts – while spotlighting a new generation of local queer filmmakers.
Opening the festival are two titles: RuPaul’s campy disaster comedy Stop! That! Train!, a wild ride packed with outrageous gags and a star-studded drag cast including Jujubee, Ginger Minj and RuPaul as president of the United States; and He Xiaodan’s award-winning Montreal, My Beautiful, starring Golden Horse “Best Actress” Joan Chen as a repressed immigrant mother set on a path of self-discovery after meeting a free-spirited younger woman.