Queer East Festival presents Shorts: A Kind of Queer Utopia + Q&A. Programmed and presented in partnership with Sine Screen.

This screening will be followed by an in-person Q&A with director Xu Zai, moderated by Veronica Jingyi Wang.

A collection of short documentaries celebrating the power of queer performances in different forms, through which atypical identities are expressed and embraced. These films explore the queer party scene in Chengdu, offer a portrait of 25-year-old drag artist Leo, tell the story of two gender non-conforming singers from the indigenous Paiwan community, and follow the ups and downs of Nanjing’s first-ever LGBTQ+ choir. In this programme, the lenses of the filmmakers break away from dominant social gazes, exploring live performances as sites of liberation and collective empowerment, a queer utopia found in one another.

Films in the Programme:

Strangers in Paradise 

When the world turns a blind eye to same-sex desire, an underground party for the queer community offers a glimmer of hope.

dir. Yihong Huang | China | 2022 | 17min

Adju 

Two indigenous gender non-conforming performers sing out loud in a conversative society.

dir. Elvis A-Liang Lu | Taiwan | 2021 |25min

Leo & Nymphia 

In twenty-five-year-old Leo's role as drag queen Nymphia, he shows his heart and desires to the world.

dir. Hsin-An Pan | Taiwan | 2022 | 27min

The Choir of Our Kind 

The growth, conflicts and challenges of a queer choir in China. dir. Zai Xu, Sisi Wang | China | 2022 | 38min