The ‘queer generation’:queer community documentary in contemporary China

Abstract

In this article, I chart a brief history of the queer community documentary in the PRC since the 2000s by introducing its historical conditions of emergence and development. In doing so, I highlight the activist dimension of queer filmmaking and its transnational nature. I focus specifically on the aesthetics and politics, together with modes of production and circulation, of these queer community documentaries. I call the group of filmmakers working around the Beijing Queer Film Festival and the China Queer Film Festival Tour the 'queer generation'.The 'queer generation' filmmakers use documentary films as a tool to engage in political and social activism. Their films and activist practices should be put in a transnational context and seen as part of the transnational cinema and international queer movements. As these filmmakers documented queer community histories, they also 'queered' Chinese documentaries and Chinese film industries at large. Their works represent grassroots, community-based and activist-oriented political engagements in contemporary China; these works also point to the political potential of queerness and documentary films in the world today.

Masculinity in crisis? Reticent / han-xu politics against danmei and male effeminacy

“…From another perspective, optimistic views can also be found in Chinese queer studies, which have captured the complexity of queer selfhood and experiences primarily by adopting a bottom-up framework and focusing on individual agency through an optimistic interpretation of cultural visibility; namely, through the production and circulation of independent queer films and docuseries as a form of media activism (Bao, 2018(Bao, , 2019. However, given these works are forbidden in mainland China's mainstream media and are only available to certain limited groups, optimistic Chinese queer scholars fail to answer how this alleged political potential could be realized, and to what extent it is enabled and/or limited by China's social, cultural, and political climates (Song, 2021).…”

Changing Contours of Chinese Queer Perceptions and the Taiwanese Model

“…Nevertheless, Wang et al (2019) tell us that discrimination against LGBT people still exists in China. Bao (2019) analyses the political potential of queer-themed documentary films in China and their transnational nature. The political conditions in the early 2000s paved the way for its proliferation.…”

“…What made the films and film festivals exceptional have been the post-screening question and answer sessions and discussions, which provided a creative space to understand the concerns and inclusiveness of gender identities. Bao (2019) identified some of the notable documentaries: East Palace, West Palace Fish and Elephant Night Scene We Are The … of Communism New Beijing, New Marriage Chinese Closet Be A Woman …”

“…Despite this secretive nature, the film festivals were sometimes raided and forced to shut down. According to Bao (2019), the two major reasons that led to the proliferation of queer films were the gathering of lesbians and gays in public platforms like parks and the emergence of online chat rooms and websites, which enabled them to communicate anonymously, thereby escaping state punishment. The mainland was also influenced by the South Korean and Japanese non-heterosexual fantasies.…”

“…Though queer filming is not an active sociopolitical movement in China, one cannot ignore its relevance as it has commonalities with the everyday politics on sexuality. Unfortunately, due to the increasing government control, the queer film festival had to be organised under the aegis of the French Government, focusing on the Chinese diaspora, thereby distancing it from the local queer communities (Bao 2019). Despite the decline of active queer documentaries, the new generation has started to upload online videos shot by them to articulate their concerns.…”