There’s a first time for everything and apparently Hong Kong is becoming open to experimentation with their support of the Gay and Lesbian Film fest. The good folks over at monstersandcritics.com give us this:
Hong Kong – A gay film festival has received government backing for the first time in Hong Kong as part of a push to raise awareness of AIDS in the territory, a health official said Friday.
The Health Department’s Red Ribbon Centre has provided 8,000 US dollars in sponsorship to the Gay and Lesbian Film and Video Festival, which is to be held over two weeks beginning November 2. It has also produced a 30-second advert promoting the use of condoms that will be screened before each film, published AIDS-awareness articles in the festival programme and will distribute condoms to the audience at the 50 films on show during the festival.
The move is part of a push to increase awareness of AIDS prevention among the gay community in Hong Kong, which has witnessed a rise in the number of HIV infections among men who have sex with men.
This is bittersweet. It’s great that an alternative film festival is getting support from it’s country, but when the reason for it is that AIDS is still claiming more victims it’s not really a cause for celebration.
But that’s not to say we shouldn’t celebrate alternative films. They are so nessesary in times like these. When everything is SO in or SO out the fact that gay and lesbian film fests continue to show movies about AIDS after the newpapers have moved on is yet another reason for them to be supported.
Also I know I’ve said it before but I really feel strongly that the more walks of life people get to see the better, it helps us understand each other, not be afraid, and see beyond labels and stereotypes. Just like I don’t like to be judged as a white girl from Canada I don’t want to be making assumptions about my neighbors based on their ethnic background or sexuality.
Good movies are compelling stories about people and life. It will be great when there is no need for alternative festivals, when everything is just judged by the quality of the film. Philadelphia is an example of a movie that broke through commercial cinema barriers and took us beyond the lifestyle choices of the characters to communicate a story and a message that even if you are dying of AIDS you still have the right to be treated with respect and die with dignity.
But until movies like Brokeback Mountain and Philadelphia become more common place, alternative film festivals need to exist.
I’m glad to see a conservative nation putting aside its personal beliefs to financially assist a Gay and Lesbian film fest. And while they aren’t they helping them out because they agree with their values they are doing it for an almost as honorable reason: Because they care about the health of the attendees. That’s a pretty good start.
