Recap | Queer Lion Winner China Premiere

Last night, ShanghaiPRIDE Film Festival continued at the Department for Culture and Education of the German Consulate General in Shanghai. A series of short films from the Chinese Short Film nominations were screened and Jose, the Venice Film Festival Queer Lion Award Winner had its China premiere.

The screened short films include: 1995, a mockumentary about campus bullying; Stand by Me, a documentary from OUT CHINA; The Drum Tower, which presented a unique city charm; Eyes, which featured a distinctive expression; Shall We Dance?, which focused on emotions of a lesbian couple.

Since the release of our schedule, our audience has been very excited to watch the Mainland China premier of Jose, the Venice Film Festival Queer Lion Award Winner.

Jose focused on a young man, who is part of the lower-class in Guatemala. He lives with his devout mother and works in a restaurant. When he meets Luis, they pursue an unexpected relationship and Jose is thrust into passion and pain and self-reflection that was previously unimaginable.

Cheng Li, the Director of Jose, enjoyed the screening with the audience and was excited to join the audience for a lively discussion. Li said that when they traveled to many South American countries and arrived at Guatemala, they were interested in the conservative and impoverished country. As a religious community, the locals were not friendly nor acceptive to the LGBTQ community.

In order to learn more about the country, Cheng Li lived there for two years. The filmmaking process was inspired by the neo-realist and famous filmmaker, Hou Hsiao-Hsien. The casts were local up-and-coming actors.

“When we talk about LGBTQ films, we place significance in ones such as Brokeback Mountain from USA and Happy Together from China. But when we look at South America, and Guatemala, there are no such films.” So the team decided to create a film which tells the story about the Mayans.

We want to thank the Department for Culture and Education of the German Consulate General in Shanghai for the venue. Thanks to Diesel, Tenga, Roxie, Great Leap Brewing, and Xuhui CDC for their generous support and gifts.