2014 see’s the 25th anniversary of the HKGLFF, making it the longest standing gay & lesbian film festival in Asia. To celebrate this birthday, HKGLFF has chosen the theme of Mature+ and have curated films that explore senior LGBT members of society.
To open the festival Love Is Strange and Life Partners will be screened. Love is Strange explores a Manhattan couple who have been together for decades and finally tie the knot, before things start to go wrong. Life Partners is about the relationship of two codependent best friends, Sasha and Paige, one lesbian and one straight.
This year’s closing film is Brazilian film, 64th Berlin Film Festival Teddy Award Best Film winner The Way He Looks. Another closing film is Anita’s Last Cha-Cha from the Philippines, about a 12 year-old little girl named Anita having her first innocent girl crush.
Things are being spiced up this year with a surprise screening. This will feature a film that is having its world premiere at Toronto Film Festival, and will receive its Asian premiere just one week after at the HKLGFF in Hong Kong.
For the first time in HKLGFF history, a section of the festival will be dedicated to documentaries. Including the award-winning film Regarding Susan Sontag, a documentary on one of the most provocative and influential thinkers of the past century, and Campaign of Hate: Russia and Gay Propaganda, which reveals the reality in the Russian gay community.
The HKLGFF also sees the presentation of the Prism award which is presented to an individual as recognition of their contribution to the gay community. This year, HKLGFF proudly presents the award to Dr. Travis Kong, author and prominent sociologist in the area of Chinese sexualities.
Red Ribbon Centre (RCC) and HKLGFF have been close working partners throughout the years, and this year RCC presents 2 Scandinavian short films: The Circle and Nomansland. In addition, RCC will present For Love, We Can – a local short film that has now received over 300,000 views on Youtube. RCC will also be holding a photo exhibition named Be Negative at The Broadway Cinematheque, to promote prevention of Hepatitis C and HIV.