Hong Kong Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
Arts & Creative Industries
Hong Kong Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
The British Council is committed to equal opportunity and diversity. This year, with a focus on sexual identity, we are supporting Asia’s largest Lesbian and Gay Film Festival by bringing five outstanding UK productions to be screened in Hong Kong. These include the closing film FIT, coming to Hong Kong along with a sharing session by its director Rikki Beadle-Blair part of the UK queer cinema establishment. Further highlights among the UK movies are The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister, a new production based on a nineteenth Century lesbian story as well as other classic UK queer films that you won’t want to miss such as Nighthawks, My Beautiful Laundrette and Prick Up Your Ears..
Details of the Sharing Session by Rikki Beadle-Blair (Director of FIT, closing film of HKLGFF 2010)
Date 2 December, 2010
Time 5.00 p.m. to 7.00 p.m.
Venue Room 401, British Council, 3 Supreme Court Road, Admiralty
Fee Free
Registration arts@britishcouncil.org.hk ; 2913 5136 (Ms. Wu)
Programme details The British Council is proud to support UK film director Rikki Beadle-Blair's sharing session in Hong Kong during this year's Hong Kong Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (HKLGFF). As an established film director covering lesbian and gay issues, his film FIT has been selected as the closing movie of HKLGFF 2010 which we also proudly support. Apart from filmmaking, he is also a screenwriter, playwright, actor and singer. LGBT issues have been core to the works he has created, ranging from TV and radio works to films and plays. In this session, Rikki will share with young people his interest in this topic and the UK's socio-cultural context in which he creates his works as well as why he has chosen to express and advocate his views on LGBT issues through the arts.
For the synopsis of the films, please click the links at the bottom of the page.For ticketing information, please visit the Festival's website.
Film Date/Time Venue
My Beautiful Laundrette 20 Nov 2010/ 2.00 p.m. Broadway Cinematheque
The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister 21 Nov 2010/ 5.45 p.m. AMC Festival Walk
Prick Up Your Ears 21 Nov 2010/ 9.40 p.m. Palace IFC
The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister 27 Nov 2010/ 8.05 p.m. Palace IFC
Nighthawks 28 Nov 2010/ 7.40 p.m. Broadway Cinematheque
Prick Up Your Ears 29 Nov 2010/ 9.50 p.m. Broadway Cinematheque
My Beautiful Laundrette 30 Nov 2010/ 7.50 p.m. Palace IFC
FIT 1 Dec 2010/ 7.30 p.m. Palace IFC
FIT 1 Dec 2010/ 9.50 p.m. Palace IFC
FIT 5 Dec 2010/ 9.40 p.m. AMC Festival Walk
FIT
FIT focuses on the lives of six diverse British teenagers who are brought together by an enthusiastic dance teacher, Loris. Everything from secret crushes to homophobic attitudes are revealed by the rambunctious students taking Drama and Dance from Loris. None of the teens are what they seem, and they are going to learn a lesson on how to “Fit” in normal society without compromising their own identities and who they really are.
My Beautiful Launderette
Omar (Gordon Warnecke) is a young Pakistani man living in the economic whirlwind of Thatcher’s London. Unable to get a job that will satisfy his demanding father, he finds himself running a laundrette owned by his entrepreneur uncle. One night, he ends up taunted by racist skinheads, but recognizes one of them as his old schoolfriend, Johnny (Daniel Day-Lewis). Johnny comes to help Omar with the laundrette and slowly they rekindle their old fling, but can their friendship, and love, endure the pressures of Omar’s Pakistani family as well as the racism of 80s Britain? A witty look at the conflicts of race and sexuality, Kureishi’s screenplay was nominated for an Oscar.
Nighthawks
Jim is living a double life: by day he’s a respectable high-school teacher, but by night he is immersed in the underground gay scene. He enjoys the freedom of the lifestyle, drifting from one casual encounter to the next, but at the same time is frustrated by his inability to find a lasting relationship. Set in an era when prejudice was rampant - homosexuality had only been decriminalized 10 years previously - Britain’s first explicitly gay film is an movingly honest portrayal of life for a single gay man in the late 70s.
Prick Up Your Ears
Set in the riotous world of 60s London, Prick Up Your Ears is a smart and witty chronicle of the turbulent lives of playwright Joe Orton and his lover Kenneth Halliwell. Based largely on John Lahr’s biography and Orton’s own diaries, Alan Bennett’s award-winning screenplay examines their explosive relationship, while touching on the sexual politics of 60s England, when homosexuality was still a criminal offense. Gary Oldman puts in a stunning performance as the hedonistic Orton while Alfred Molina revels in his portrayal of the tortured, repressed Halliwell.
The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister
A beautiful film based on the life and loves of Anne Lister, one of the iconic lesbians figures in history. Set in 19th century England, this deeply engaging film follows the true story of the heiress and landowner who, in her courage to defy convention, became known as “the first modern lesbian.” Pieced together from Anne’s encrypted, four-million-word diary, the film recounts her scandalous affairs with two women and the heartbreak over her one true love. Fans of Sarah Waters’ (“Tipping the Velvet,” “Fingersmith”) period drama will adore this courageous and entertaining tale of Anne Lister’s amazing life.
