Beijing Queer Film Festival
| Location | Beijing, China |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2001 |
| Language | International |
| Website |
http://www.bjqff.com/ (Mostly in Chinese) |
The Beijing Queer Film Festival (Chinese: 北京酷儿影展), is an LGBT film festival, held annually in Beijing, the capital city of the People's Republic of China. It was the first LGBT film festival to be established in mainland China, founded in 2001 by the Chinese author and LGBT film director Cui Zi'en, a professor at the Beijing Film Academy. The city has a large LGBT community.
The screening of LGBT films presents a challenge to filmmakers and festival organisers in China, as the country has a censorship law that prohibits any positive depiction of lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender lives in films or TV shows. The selection of mainstream venues is not permitted, and the big international festivals in Shanghai and Beijing do not show gay-themed films, whilst DVDs of films such as Brokeback Mountain are only available on the black market.
The founder of the Beijing Queer Film Festival, Cui Zi'en, says "The biggest change is that I'm not the only one doing this... There's more support from the gay community. Society has become more relaxed and open-minded in its thinking". Community organisers say that gay-themed events that would have been banned a few years ago are now being permitted.
Beijing Queer Film Festival was founded in 2001 by Chinese film director Cui Zi’en, who personally identifies as gay. During the Festival's early years, screenings were often cancelled at short notice by the security police, and films were moved from cinemas and universities to bars and private homes. Publicity was largely by word-of-mouth and the organisers were notified that they may be arrested. The Festival was closed by the police in 2001 and 2005, and the Festival's main venues were changed or cancelled.
The second edition, in 2002, relocated its screenings from Beijing University to the-then semi-'underground' 798 arts district, (in Dashanzi, north east of Beijing city centre), which is described as "China's version of New York's SoHo". In 2011, the Festival was again ordered shut down by government officials.
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