Lilting (2014)Lilting, Hong Khaou’s intimate drama starring Ben Whishaw and Cheng Pei-pei as a gay man and a Chinese-Cambodian woman brought together when her son dies, has played at film festivals across the world (including BFI Flare: London LGBT Film Festival), and is about to be shown in its most unlikely destination yet – Yangon in Myanmar, a country where homosexuality is illegal, punishable by heavy fines and prison sentences.
It’s showing as part of &Proud, the first ever Yangon LGBT Film Festival. From 14-16 November 2014, 32 films from 12 countries will be shown at the French Institute in Yangon, with a focus on films from Asian countries. These include It Gets Better, a Thai film about the problems that transgender people face in society, which opens the festival, while groundbreaking Vietnamese drama Lost in Paradise brings the festival to a close.
So how has the festival been received in a country with severe penalties for same sex sexual activity? Very positively, according to festival programmer Billy Stewart. “The reaction has been great. Although homosexuality has a huge social stigma, the media response has been very positive”, says Stewart, noting wryly that Section 377, the most homophobic section in the penal code, is a hangover from British-era legislation. In reality, it’s rarely enforced, although homophobia is still ever-present – in July last year, 12 gay and transgender people were reported to have been subjected to verbal and physical abuse by police officers in Mandalay.
Other highlights from the festival include three short films made especially for the festival, by the Rainbow Reels project, and Children of Srikandi, the first film about queer women in Indonesia, in which eight poetic stories are interwoven with beautiful scenes of shadow puppet theatre. Films from Cambodia, the Philippines and Singapore are also in the programme, as well as seven films from Myanmar. Other modern queer classics will be shown alongside Lilting, including Tomboy, Céline Sciamma’s drama about a girl who claims she is a boy.
&Proud continues until 16 November 2014 at the French Institute, Yangon. All films and events are open to all and free of charge.
