City’s debut queer film fest to screen surprise movie

The Macao International Queer Film Festival (MIQFF) is calling for participants to enter a lucky draw to win tickets to the preview of a surprise film next Friday.

To be held between Feb. 3 and 12 at the Emperor Cinemas in Lisboeta Macau, the film festival is the first of its kind in the city.

On its social media page, the organizer noted that a surprise film will be screened before the film festival period. Social media users are invited to make guesses about the surprise film based on the clues given to win tickets to the preview of the film. Those who want to secure seats can complete an online form and make payments to obtain rights to entry.

The organizer’s hints about the surprise film are that it is a short film in the Chinese language, has garnered an accolade in 2022 and depicts the story of the relationship between a queer person and their mother.

Apart from the surprise film, the festival will screen works picked from around the globe. For example, director Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho will be screened. This film is respected as the landmark film of New Queer Cinema and it has topped many queer cinema lists as selected by renowned film reviewers. The film features River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves.

Several local works, including Next Door, Where the Luck Goes, I’m Here and A Story of Two Volleyballs Falling in Love, will also be celebrated by the film festival. The film Where the Luck Goes will see its world premiere at the festival.

Discussing the theme of the first edition of the film festival, the organizer said it is themed “Let’s Get Beautiful Together Queen!”, which shares the same acronym with the film festival itself.

On the question of why the city needs its own queer film festival, the organizer said queers have different stories to tell that should be told and heard. According to them, stories help us understand each other, and cinema makes stories visual.

“[The festival] could expand our minds out far, far away,” the organizer said. “MIQFF hopes to connect society with film art, encourage more understanding from the public as an act against discrimination.”