Movie buffs are in for a treat as the annual Q! Film Festival is back for the seventh time to paint the town a bright shade of pink.

Created in 2002 by Qmunity, an organization of writers who share a common love for cinema, the Q! Film Festival (QFF) has grown over the years to become a leading showcase for diverse, international LGBTIQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Questioning) film festival in Asia.

The festival encompasses a long list of film screenings, photo exhibitions, book launches, talk shows, discussions and wild parties.

This year's theme is "Naturally Different", and the eclectic selection of 80 films from more than 20 countries around the globe clearly reflects this.

Kicking the QFF off to a romantic start is the opening film, French musical Les Chansons d'Amour (Love Songs). Featuring an all-singing cast including Louis Garrel (The Dreamers) and Ludivine Sagnier (8 Women), it tells of a tragedy that befalls a Parisian m*nage a trois of a man and two women.

This bittersweet meditation on the fluid and fickle nature of love and sexuality has since become a cult favorite for French youths since debuting at last year's Cannes Film Festival.

Eko Nugroho, 32, who has been attending QFF film screenings for the past three years, is looking forward to catch this year's movies.

"There were many good films at last year's festival, especially The Bubble and Summer Storm, which played to full houses. I would think that this year's lineup is no different," he quipped, adding that one film he looks forward to catching this year is I Don't Want To Sleep Alone.

Indeed a must-see at this year's QFF, I Don't Want To Sleep Alone is Malaysian-Taiwanese auteur Tsai Ming Liang's acclaimed latest feature. Hsiao Kang's (Tsai's regular protagonist from his previous films) wanderlust takes him to Kuala Lumpur, where he is taken in by a construction worker after being robbed and left for dead. A lustful triangle forms when a local waitress falls for Hsiao Kang.

This flick made headlines last year when it was banned by the Malaysian censorship board, prompting the director to cut offending scenes out to ensure its release in his native country.

Other films from neighboring Asian countries worth checking out are Philippines' The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela and Singapore's Lucky 7.

Queen Raquela is a hilarious Almodovar-esque tale of a lady-boy prostitute who becomes an Internet porn star to fulfill his/her dream of living in Paris, but gets stranded in Iceland instead.

The film's poster showing the title character squatting over a urinal is enough to elicit guffaws, which should also apply to the film itself.

Lucky 7 involves a curious idea of seven filmmakers each attempting a 10-minute segment, followed by the next filmmaker, who knows only what takes place in the last minute of the previous part.

Together they assist one another to finish one entire feature length film to make the whole greater than the sum of its parts.

Hollywood fare isn't overlooked by QFF. This year's lineup includes The Walker, the latest from Taxi Driver and American Gigolo scribe Paul Schrader and starring Oscar nominees Woody Harrelson, Kristin Scott Thomas and Lauren Bacall. Harrelson plays a homosexual escort for high society women in Washington who gets in hot water when the secret lover of one of his female friends is found murdered.

Famed critic Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times calls it "a quietly enthralling film because it contains the murder and the investigation within (the Harrelson character)'s smooth calm."

Another Hollywood film being screened is the Oscar winning Gods and Monsters, which is featured in the gay classics section alongside Caravaggio, Edward II and My Beautiful Laundrette.

QFF audience regular Elyzavia, 24, loves this particular section of the festival. "For movie buffs like me, getting the opportunity to catch classic films we've missed that are difficult to find on DVD is great."

However, she regrets that a few of this year's more prominent films have already screened at other local festivals before.

"But since it's free of charge, we should be grateful that they keep organizing (the festival) year after year, which undoubtedly takes a lot of time and effort."

This year, in cooperation with Kalyana Shira Foundation, QFF features a Human Rights segment which showcases local films like Perempuan Punya Cerita (Chants Of Lotus) and May, as well as 9808, an omnibus of shorts from ten directors commemorating a decade of Indonesian Reform era.

This section also includes films that deal with the struggle for gay rights such as Suddenly, Last Winter, My Super 8 Season and The Birthday. The latter is particularly interesting as it follows an Iranian young man's life as it leads up to his sex-change operation.

Apart from the array of films on offer, QFF also presents a series of noteworthy fringe events.

There are three photographic exhibitions, including "What's Queer?" which has professional and amateur photographers visually answering the question, with eye-opening results.

There's also a talk show named "Silat Lidah Binan" (a colloquial term for gay talk), which spoofs a similarly titled talk show on local television, with audience members throwing topics for discussion by the panelists.

The star-studded talk show should attract people in droves as it guarantees the audience a laugh-out-loud good time. Confirmed panelists due to appear include local celebrities, actress Ria Irawan and author Djenar Maesa Ayu.

Speaking of literature, QFF features the launch of Heterophobia and the second book of the Macho Man Ngomong Cong (Macho Man Talks Queer) series, as well as a book discussion on poetry and short stories by lesbians.

A prominent feature in the past few editions of QFF is Q! Gossip. One of the two topics open for dialogue this year is "Homosexuality and Religion", which is bound to ruffle a few feathers.

On a lighter note is the other Q! Gossip subject of "Bahasa Binan" or the local gay vernacular that has been permeating more and more into mainstream consciousness of late.

Closing the festival is a double bill of local crowd pleaser Quickie Express and the Singaporean musical extravaganza 881. The latter (pronounced pa-pa-yow) is a Hokkien language tale of The Papaya Sisters, a singing and dancing duo who perform in open air concerts around the island capital in honor of seventh month in the lunar calendar.

Peppered with plenty of flashy costumes, melodrama and bitchiness (in the form of stiff competition from their prickly rivals, The Durian Sisters), 881 is Singapore's extremely campy answer to Moulin Rouge!, with a distinctly local flavor.

With films galore and exciting events throughout the QFF, Jakartans should prepare themselves for a week full of three Fs.

As a close friend and fellow cinephile puts it, "QFF is nothing but Fun, Films and Faaaaabulous, darling!"

The 7th Annual Q Film Festival runs from August 8-16, 2008 and is held at various venues around the Greater Jakarta area. Tickets to film screenings are free of charge and available from respective venues one hour before screening time. For full list of films and schedule go to www.qfilmfestival.org

Popular

Indonesian workers in Japan face growing stigma after viral incidents

Political motivations behind rising cyberattacks in mid-2025, report says

High rice prices, education costs push up inflation to 2.37 percent in July