06-17 Recap & 06-19~06-21 Upcoming Events | 上海骄傲节 ShanghaiPRIDE

01 ShanghaiPRIDE Film Festival

June 17, ShanghaiPRIDE Film Festival 2018 drew the curtains at The British Centre. The films screened include the nominee of ShPFF 2018 Chinese Short Film Awards Reality Fragment 160921, Italian film There is A Light, and American films The Wedding Banquet and Baby Steps.

Marc Connolly, Consul of the British Consulate General in Shanghai, shared about the British film Against the Law which was screened a few days ago and the progress of the LGBTQ community in UK for the past 50 years before the screening.

Chinese short film Reality Fragment 160921 is based on the daily fragments of the directors, Jasmine Lin and April Lin. It showcased the real lives of the lovers and their process of building their own world. Jasmine Lin, the director the film, shared some behind-the-scenes stories and explored the differences of Chinese and American queer films.

Alberto Manai, Director of the Italian Culture Institute Shanghai, opened Italy Presents before screening There is A Light. This year is the first time that the Italian Culture Institute Shanghai collaborated with ShanghaiPRIDE. Alberto Manai congratulated ShanghaiPRIDE and hoped that there will be more LGBTQ events in China.

There is A Light is the nominee of Nastro d’Argento 2017 Best Original Story, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. Fabio Mollo, the director of There is A Light, shared via video message about the main idea of the film which is love has no borders, no labels.

Mr. Daniel Glaser, Vice Consul of US Consulate General in Shanghai, made a short speech before screening the closing films. Twenty five years ago, the premiere of The Wedding Banquet surprised the Chinese filmmakers. It was the nominee of the Oscar Award in 1994 for Best Foreign Language Film and won the the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin Internatinal Film Festival in 1993. But same-sex marriage was not legalized in the United States until 2015, the American LGBTQ community never stopped their efforts in equality.

The closing film Baby Steps, focused on same-sex couples forming a rainbow family. The process of searching for a surrogacy mother might be amusing at times but also drove the audience to think more about it. Although The Wedding Banquet and Baby Steps were separated by 22 years, they have many similarities to a certain extent, the deeply rooted Chinese traditional mindset.

Wei Wei, Professor of Sociology at East China Normal University, Ms. Mei from PFLAG and Chen Xiangqi, Founder of Shanghai Nvai, were present and discussed more about coming out and family within the Chinese LGBTQ community for the past 25 years.

Wei Wei pointed out that in both films, they had limitations, such as the convenience marriage in The Wedding Banquet and surrogacy in Baby Steps. These are not the only way out for the local LGBTQ community. The paths that the LGBTQ community have taken in the west might not be applicable in China. With the development of science and policies, same-sex couples paid more attention to direct blood relation and not diversity. We are moving backwards. The issues that Wei Wei talked stirred deep thoughts for the audience.

Ms. Mei referred to some cases she encountered and said that the thoughts of forming a rainbow family should be treated carefully. Same-sex couples using children as a shortcut for coming out is not realistic. The typical image of a mother in Baby Steps represents the common problem of Asian mothers who love by force. How could we resolve this? The film seems to give a happy ending but it is very challenging to achieve in real life.

Chen Xiangqi pointed out directly that the female characters in The Wedding Banquet or Baby Steps are little or absent. These films focused on male characters which are common in Chinese LGBTQ films. She reminded the audience that the “compromised ways” to come out is not idea. In the long term, it weakens the efforts of the LGBTQ community.

Barney Cheng, the director and main actor of Baby Steps, sent his best wishes to ShanghaiPRIDE via a video message. Nearly 100 people watched the films together and participated in the discusssion which is a perfect ending for ShPFF 2018.

ShPFF will have encore screenings and special screenings on June 20, 21 and 26. Don’t miss out!

We would like to thank the British Centre for providing the venue, many thanks to the Italian Culture Institute Shanghai and US Consulate General in Shanghai for supporting the wonderful films. Our appreciation goes to Gravity and QAFONE for supporting the subtitles; H-Shield, Hunter Gathere, Il Vino, Sweet Teeth, Tenga, WeMan, and White Castle for the generous support and gifts.

上海骄傲电影节 | 走向国际影展，你只差这一步！

2018上海骄傲电影节邀您共赴影像之约！

02 Well-Being Panel

At June 17, ShanghaiPRIDE opened its forum on health and well-being of the LGBTQ community.

Four speakers shared their experiences working on issues of health and well-being, including the development and meaning of the global event Gay Games by Jason Jia, mentality construction of sexual and gender minorities by Zhang Zhihui, how the construction of gender roles in the society affects self-identification by Zhang Yu and raising awareness about AIDS prevention and treatment by Bu Jiaqing.

Participants, who came from many different cities and locales, felt comfortable in the casual atmosphere and gained quite a lot from the Well-being Panel.

We would like to express our appreciation to Shanghai Qingai, China White Ribbon Volunteers, Paris 2018 Gay Games 10, and venue partner Cotton’s for their support of this event.

幸· 感讨论会 | 探讨我们的幸福感

03 Rainbow BBQ

As the venue that hosted the very first ShanghaiPRIDE, Cotton’s has witnessed ShanghaiPRIDE’s journey during the last 10 years.

On June 17, when ShanghaiPRIDE’s 10th anniversary is approaching its end, old-timers and young blood gathered at Cotton’s for a special Rainbow BBQ to celebrate and remember the goal that kept us going for 10 years, and looked further into the future.

Aside from the great food, live music, and the raffle prizes (again ^_^), guests experienced another special treat: a chance to take a photo in front of the Pride rainbow flag that has been used since the very first ShanghaiPRIDE nine years ago.