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15 Short films you shouldn’t miss from the 5th Queer East Film Festival

These are our fifteen recommended short films from the Queer East Film Festival, which will take place from April 17 – 28, 2024 in London, UK.

A Catholic Schoolgirl by Myra Angeline Soriaso | Philippines | 2023 | 18min

It’s the first time Kaya has experienced falling in love. One of the finest students at an all-girls Catholic school, she develops an ungodly a crush on Sister Agnes – a nun who will soon be destined for a faraway province. (QEFF 2024)

Beats Per Minute by Lin Guan-Chen | Taiwan | 2023 | 19min

Yong-Ning, a lonely college boy, gets a call from his old friend, Yi-Jie. In Taipei at night, the two of them wander, feeling out the chemistry in the dark. Can Yi-Jie catch up with the beat of his old friend’s rhythm? (QEFF 2024)

Trailer:

Burial of This Order by Jane Jin Kaisen | Denmark | 2023 | 25min

In an abandoned resort on Jeju Island in South Korea, a procession of non-conforming people – from musicians, artists, and poets to anti-miliary activists, environmentalists and diasporic, queer and trans people – come together to undo a world order built upon hierarchy and division by performing a burial. (QEFF 2024)

Trailer:

Don’t Forget Me by Alice Wang | Canada | 2023 | 19min

While clearing out her late grandmother’s home, Sophie finds a box of hidden love letters revealing a forbidden love story between her Nai Nai and her lover stretched across decades and continents. Seeking closure, Sophie sets off on a road trip journey with her girlfriend to find her grandmother’s lover and deliver her last letter. (QEFF 2024)

Trailer:

Fish Boy by Christopher Yip | Canada | 2023 | 11min

Fish Boy is a lyrical meditation on faith, love, and polyamory, explored through the eyes of an Asian American teenager. When 16-year-old Patrick is forced to choose between his love for God and his fluid sexuality, his self-discovery manifests itself in his skin. (QEFF 2024)

Trailer:

Kin by Charmaine Poh | Singapore | 2021 | 3min

This hybrid documentary film proposes a safe space for queer life in Singapore. (QEFF 2024)

Like Wave Like Cloud by Yulin Yang | China | 2023 | 16min

On a surfing trip, two women with an age difference attempt to navigate their uncertain relationship. Yet after an unexpected change in circumstances, they each begin to see themselves and their relationship in a new light. (QEFF 2024)

Trailer:

Midnight Rising by Aileen Ye | UK | 2024 | 8min

An intimate portrait of London’s East and Southeast Asian clubbing community, a world in which the allure of raving, extravagance, and hyperpop becomes an affirmation of love, acceptance, and joy. This world-within-a-world is instantly familiar, filled with ambitions, desires, and yearnings that reflect the joy and resistance of today. (QEFF 2024)

Trailer:

Mom, if I were a Vampire by Deborah Devyn Chuang | Taiwan | 2022 | 17min

Wen, an insecure teenage girl, dislikes her disapproving mother, and vows to be nothing like her. After meeting a cool girl with a couldn’t-give-a-damn attitude, Wen becomes infatuated and follows her down a rabbit hole. (QEFF 2024)

Trailer:

My Heart is going to Explode! by Jung Inhyuk | South Korea | 2023 | 20min

After a love affair full of gaslighting comes to an end, Soojin is haunted by the green-lit girl she slept with in a drunken stupor the night before. Her body was glowing; she literally emitted green light. Soojin’s friends scold her for losing her mind, but suddenly a UFO appears in the skies of Seoul. (QEFF 2024)

Trailer:

River is My Hometown by River Cao|2021|UK|8min  

A revenant’s return to a homeland to reconsider memory, ritual and grief. (QEFF 2024)

Still Life by Sarah Kim | US | 2023 | 15min

Following a car accident, three friends find themselves in a limbo between life and death, but only one of them will return to life on Earth.  (QEFF 2024)

Taking My Time to Dance by Celeste Lapida | Philippines | 2024 | 23min

Rana gets in dresses for the first time and is ready for a clubbing night. (QEFF 2024)

The Bus Driver by Ku Ki | Myanmar | 2024 | 22min

A bus conductor and his wife struggle to make ends meet, having to cope with long working hours and daily power cuts in Myanmar. Yet, this queer couple seems to be completely integrated into their community, despite LGBTQ+ people being legally persecuted by the military regime. (QEFF 2024)

The River That Never Ends by JT Trinidad | Philippines | 2023 | 18min

Along a river that is undergoing major change, Baby, a middle-aged trans woman, juggles her job as a companion-for-hire and her duty to her father. As the people around Baby start to disappear, she realizes that she has been left behind in a sprawling city. (QEFF 2024)

Trailer:

For more information, please visit: https://queereast.org.uk/festival-2024/

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