In celebration of International Transgender Day of Visibility (March 31), the folks at CINEMQ, an independent queer collective based in Shanghai with a focus on LGBTQ+ cinema, have put together a Twitter thread with a selection of some short films that focus on trans, genderqueer and non-binary folk.
We’ve rounded that thread up into a Daily Drip, with their permission — check out their recommendations below:
Blooming Night is a compact 9-minute short, accompanied by this description over on Vimeo:
“Mesmerized by a pair of red heels, a lonely street guy in Shanghai follows its owner into a forbidden club. There, he discovers something that challenges, yet awakens his mind. This short is inspired by the real underground elder LGBTQ community in Shanghai.”
This award-winning short was made by Sixin “Dandelion” Lin. The trailer and pitch video for this one are available on YouTube, with behind-the-scenes footage over on the film’s website.
For a brief introduction to the story, you can head over to the film’s website:
“It’s 1995 in a small town in the south of China and 12-year-old Tomboy girl is an embarrassment to her family who values her younger brother far more than her. Tomboy girl has decided to dress like a boy, think like a man and count the days until she can leave her village and find a place where she can be treated as an equal. The boys in her school are threatened by Tomboy girl’s independence and decide to teach her a lesson by cornering her in a dark alley and sexually molesting her. Determined to avenge this injustice, Tomboy girl chases the boys through town, picking them off one-by-one with her slingshot.”
This intimate Cantonese-language documentary is set in Hong Kong and follows a transgender boy, Kasper, “as he struggles to realign his body with his soul.”
To watch the full short, head over to Gagaoolala.
While the trailer for this one is readily available, the full 15-minute short proves more elusive. Hong Konger Beatrice Wong documents her transition and the struggles that accompanied it.
Cover image: Slingshot Prince courtesy of Sixin Lin/IMDb
#Chinese drama
#short film
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