From "celluloid comrades" to "digital video activism”: queer filmmaking in postsocialist China

Abstract

Although homosexuality was decriminalised in 1997 and partially depathologised in 2001, LGBTQ issues are still strictly censored in the Chinese media. With the rapid growth of China's LGBTQ community, an increasing number of independent films featuring LGBTQ issues have emerged in the past two decades. In this article, I trace a brief history of queer cinema in the People's Republic of China in the postsocialist era (1978 to present). In particular, I chart the significant turn from 'celluloid comrades', i.e. queer people being represented by heterosexual identified filmmakers in an ambiguous way, to what leading Chinese queer filmmaker Cui Zi'en calls 'digital video activism', in which LGBTQ individuals and groups have picked up cameras and made films about their own lives. In doing so, I unravel the politics of representation, the dynamics of mediated queer politics and the political potential of queer filmmaking in China. I suggest that in a country where public expressions of sexualities and demands for sexual rights are not possible, queer filmmaking has become an important form of queer activism that constantly negotiates with government censorship and the market force of commercialisation. Rather than representing a pre-existing identity and community, queer films and filmmaking practices have brought Chinese gay identities and communities into existence.

‘Shanghai is burning’:Extravaganza, transgender representation and transnational cinema

“…It has also shaped Shanghai’s film culture in significant ways. At the moment, the city hosts two queer film festivals, ShanghaiPRIDE Film Festival and Shanghai Queer Film Festival, which articulate different types of film aesthetics and sexual politics (Bao, 2018a). Meanwhile, there are dozens of multiplex cinemas and independent film clubs all over the city; the latter includes CINEMQ, a queer film collective dedicated to regular film screenings.…”

“…Baren points to a common issue in representing gender and sexual minorities: Western media often cast an orientalist gaze on queer life in China. Queer life in China is often treated as a ‘national allegory’ in ‘Third World’ texts (Bao, 2018a, p. 85; Jameson, 1986), and queer people are often portrayed as poor victims living under the communist dictatorship and struggling for freedom and survival. This type of Western gaze is intrinsically orientalising and objectifying.…”

“…In recent decades, some scholars have brought sexuality and queer theory into critical dialogue with the study of transnational Chinese cinemas. Researchers have demonstrated complex relationships between national identities, gender and sexual identities, and the queer sense of belonging (Bao, 2010a(Bao, , 2010b(Bao, , 2015(Bao, , 2017(Bao, , 2018a(Bao, , 2018bBerry, 1998Berry, , 2000Berry, , 2001Berry, , 2004Chao, 2010aChao, , 2010bFan, 2016;Leung, 2004Leung, , 2008Leung, , 2011Leung, , 2012aLeung, , 2012bLim, 2006;F. Martin, 2000;Pecic, 2016;Robinson, 2015;Shaw & Zhang, 2017;Tan, 2016;Yue, 2012).…”

“I Want to Make Queer Films, But Not LGBT Films”

“…This is reflected in mainstream and online media where representation of LGBTQ-related issues are often subject to heavy censorship. However, despite the austere restrictions that exist, the past two decades have witnessed the emergence of 'new queer Chinese cinema' (Leung 2012;Yue 2012;Pecic 2016;Bao 2018).Led by a number of young independent queer filmmakers along with advancements in new media technologies, this underground movement of queer filmmaking have created new possibilities for imagining sexuality and gender as well as opportunities for communitybuilding.…”

“…This is reflected in mainstream and online media where representation of LGBTQ-related issues are often subject to heavy censorship. However, despite the austere restrictions that exist, the past two decades have witnessed the emergence of 'new queer Chinese cinema' (Leung 2012;Yue 2012;Pecic 2016;Bao 2018).…”