Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Pride Month is celebrated each year in the month of June to honor the 1969 Stonewall Uprising. Stonewall is considered the turning point of the Gay Liberation Movement, which sought to move beyond the social stigma and shame of the queer experience, and instead celebrate queer identity as a point of pride. This year, to celebrate, we have decided to spend a few week highlighting specific cultural experiences within the queer community to showcase the variety of stories within this large rainbow umbrella.
This week we wish to celebrate the Asian Queer experience by highlighting these select films. Happy Pride, y’all!
Kit returns to Ho Chi Minh City for the first time since he was six years old when his family fled the country in the aftermath of the Vietnam-American War. There he meets Lee, his estranged second cousin, Linh, a young Vietnamese student, and arranges an online date that turns into something more with Lewis, an American clothing designer. Struggling to make sense of himself in a city he₂s no longer familiar with, he embarks on a personal journey across the country that opens up the possibility for friendship, loved, and happiness. – Strand Releasing Home Video
The Blue Hour (2016) Trailer Here
The blue hour is a sexy supernatural love story about a bullied loner, Tam, who finds solace in the arms of Phum, a boy he meets at a haunted swimming pool. Phum reveals that his family's land has been stolen and the newfound lovers imagine a perfect life together on the disputed land. Haunted by a ghostly presence, Tam struggles to stay connected to reality. - Strand Releasing Home Video
Happy Together (1997) Trailer Here
Lai and his boyfriend, Ho, arrive in Argentina from Hong Kong, seeking a better life. Their highly contentious relationship turns abusive and results in numerous break-ups and reconciliations. When Lai befriends another man, Chang (Chen Chang), he sees the futility of continuing with the promiscuous Ho. Chang, however, is on his own personal journey and, ultimately, both Lai and Ho find themselves far from home and desperately lonely. – Kino on Video
Chutney Popcorn (1999) Trailer Here
Lisa and Reena are in love, but when Reena agrees to become a surrogate mother for her childless sister, the cultural divide between Reena's Indian family and their lesbian lifestyle hits home. A heartfelt comedy about the cultural struggles between immigrant parents and their Americanized children and the strength of family ties. – Wolfe Video
I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone (2006) Trailer Here
An erotic love triangle finds a young drifter who is beaten by thugs and rescued by an immigrant worker who nurses him back to health. The drifter develops a crush on a waitress and the three young people find love. – Strand Releasing Home Video
Tropical Malady (2004) Trailer Here
"Tropical Malady" is two distinct halves, divided into two complementary and wholly necessary pieces. The first half is a love story. A young soldier, Keng (Banlop Lomnoi), is assigned to patrol the Thai forests, and he falls for a country boy, Tong (Sakda Kaewbuadee), a worker in a rural Thai village's ice plant. In the second half, that love story has been swallowed by a folk tale, in which the spirit of a man has found its way into the body of a tiger. A soldier patrols the forest, looking for a villager who has disappeared while a voice-over relates the story of a shaman who has the power to turn himself into a tiger. Is the soldier Keng? Is the missing villager -- or, stranger yet, the tiger -- Tong? - Strand Releasing Home Video