Tuesday, June 7, 2022

 

Frameline46

Finally, the world's oldest and largest LGBTQ+ film festival, Frameline, returns to in-person screenings June 16–26, 2022 for its 46th edition after being disrupted for two years by the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition to the in-person screenings at theaters in San Francisco and Oakland, the festival will also include a nationwide streaming encore June 24–30, 2022.

This year's Frameline46 will present 132 films, including 46 feature narratives, 32 feature documentaries, 3 episodic programs, and 61 short films. These films represent 36 countries and regions around the world. As always, the festival's diverse selections contain films of all genres and touch on issues related to every letter in the LGBTQ+ spectrum.

Frameline 46

The following are a few samplers in this year's selection. (You may click on each still image or poster for the corresponding screening or event's show time and ticket information.)


  • Let Me Hear It Barefoot (裸足で鳴らしてみせろ | Japan 2021 | in Japanese | 128 min.)

    Let Me Hear It Barefoot
    Even though the writer-director Riho Kudo's sensitive and enjoyable drama "Let Me Hear It Barefoot" opens with a beautiful barefoot shot of one of its two protagonists, the film isn't about being barefoot. It explores the subtle and ambiguous relationship between two boys, and it unfolds the ups and downs of their endeavors.

    Naomi (Shion Sasaki) drives a truck to pick up recycled household items including electronic devices. He is not getting along well with his debt-ridden father, so he often retreats to his own little space filled with small things he salvaged from his recycling truck.

    After he meets the sunny Maki (Tamari Suwa), they bond quickly and Naomi's dull daily routines become much more colorful. Maki lives with his blind grandma Midori (Jun Fubuki), who adopted Maki a long time ago.

    After Midori becomes ill and stays in a hospital, she gives her savings to Maki and asks him to travel the world for her and tells her about his trips. Unable to actually take any trip overseas, the two boys quickly come up with a scheme to comfort the ailing lady. Using a cassette voice recorder from Naomi's collections and a travel encyclopedia, the two begin to record daily travelogues on cassettes to tell the imaginary trips Maki is taking around the world.

    Like two true sound effect artists in filmmaking, the two boys ingeniously create magical sounds with the items around them. In one scene, Maki asks Naomi to walk on rice barefoot to get the desired sound effect, which becomes the film's title. In between their recording work, the two boys intimately wrestle and hang out like two best friends, while restraining the undercurrent desire for each other.

    The director Riho Kudo's sensitive portrait of the two boys is mesmerizing and sometimes heartbreaking. She is as constrained as her characters in her attempt to avoid falling into the cliché for her plot. Even though the ending might not be what you would like it to be, the two arresting characters will stay with you long after the credits roll.


  • Coming to You (너에게 가는 길 | South Korea 2021 | in Korean | 93 min. | Documentary)

    Coming to You
    South Korea is one of the most culturally conservative Asian countries when it comes to embracing and accepting LGBTQ+ people. The struggles of queer people and their families can be very challenging and frustrating. With that social climate as the backdrop, the director Byun Gyu-ri's "Coming to You" tells the stories about two loving moms of LGBTQ+ children, Nabi and Vivian. It documents how they cope with their children's realization of being in the sexual minority, how they actively get involved in Korea's PFLAG organization, and how they offer their unconditional love and support to their children.

    A firefighter for 34 years, Nabi is a single mom for her teenage child, Hankyeol. Hankyeol identifies themselves as non-binary and asexual and undergoes breasts removal procedure. Nabi and Hankyeol also fight to legally change Hankyeol's gender from female to male in a queer unfriendly South Korea legal system. While grasping with the new reality herself as Hankyeol comes out to her, Nabi is on Hankyeol's side every step along the way, provides her heartwarming support, and shares her experience with other struggling parents in PFLAG meetings.

    The other protagonist of the film is also an ordinary working mom. A flight attendant for 27 years, Vivian is the mom of her gay son, Yejoon. At first, Yejoon finds comfort in Toronto, escaping from his home country's hostile environment toward gay people. However, after he meets his boyfriend, he moves back to Korea to be with him. Vivian not only learns how to embrace her son's sexuality, but she also becomes a fierce advocate for LGBTQ+ right and shares her unconditional love with other families with queer children.

    With close access to these people's lives, the film intertwines the stories of these two families and offers us a snapshot of the struggles for queer people in South Korea. Even though the film shows the long road ahead for the LGBTQ+ acceptance and doesn't gloss over the harsh reality in South Korea, it offers plenty of hopeful and inspiring moments, as well as many sweet and hilarious scenes.


  • Moneyboys (金錢男孩 | Austria/France/Taiwan/Belgium 2021 | in Mandarin | 120 min.)

    Moneyboys
    More than two decades ago, Stanley Kwan's groundbreaking "Lan Yu" (China 2001) told a Chinese hustler's love story for the first time. Despite the hard line censorship on LGBTQ+ media in recent years, in an era of gay dating apps that are readily available at one's fingertips, male prostitution has been flourishing in China. Yet, there is almost nothing about them portrayed on the big screen, until now. The China-born and Austria-based writer-director C.B. Yi's striking feature directorial debut "Moneyboys" unfolds a melancholic story of moneyboys in China. It features one of the most popular stars in Taiwan, Kai Ko (柯震東), and was premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

    Perhaps only in China, moneyboy (not a legit English word) or shortened as MB, is a synonym for male prostitutes. Fei (Kai Ko) is one of them. Coming from a small village, Fei begins his new career as a moneyboy in the city, Yiwu, to support his family back in the countryside. He learns the ropes from Xiaolai (J.C. Lin) and they fall in love with each other. After Fei has a violent episode with a client, Xiaolai seeks revenge but only ends up being badly beaten up.

    Five years later, Fei loses touch with Xiaolai and lives in another city, Shenzhen, but has become a pro as a moneyboy. After his childhood friend Long (Yufan Bai) comes to join Fei in the moneyboy business, they become boyfriends.

    Despite Fei sending money back home to the village, his extended family members despise him for being gay, and even more so for being a moneyboy. During a visit back to the village, their hostile attitude toward Fei is on full display. When Xiaolai unexpectedly reappears, Fei's emotional compass falls into complete disarray.

    This drama is the first installment of a trilogy planned by the writer-director C.B. Yi, a student of the renowned auteur Michael Haneke. Even though the film's story is about moneyboys, the underlying theme of sacrifices for the family is universal, especially in Chinese culture. It's very common for young people in China to leave their poor villages for better paying jobs in metropolises in order to support their families back home. In Fei's case, that job is being a hustler.

    Appearing in almost every scene of the film, Kai Ko gives a superb performance as the emotionally torn Fei. It's a great comeback role for him after he was busted for using marijuana a few years back (yes, smoking marijuana is still illegal in most countries in the world!).

    This film may become another milestone after "Lan Yu" that humanizes one of the most marginalized groups in China—male prostitution.


Frameline46 takes place June 16–26, 2022 in San Francisco at the Castro Theater in the Castro, the Roxie Theater in the Mission, AMC Kabuki 8 in Japantown, SFMOMA downtown, Proxy SF in Haight-Ashbury, as well as the New Parkway Theater in Oakland.

The festival will also include a nationwide streaming encore June 24–30, 2022.

Labels:


Comments: Post a Comment


<< Home This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?