Home  /  Everything Else: Article  /  Celebrate the freedom to love with films at Pink Screen
ARTICLE

Celebrate the freedom to love with films at Pink Screen

By Say Peng  /  10 Jun 2019 (Monday)


The annual Pink Screen film festival is back!

The LGBTQ film festival will be showcasing 5 films, all of which will screen at the Projector.



The opening film is 'Kanarie', a coming-of-age musical war drama, set in South Africa in 1985. , a young man who discovers how through hardship, camaraderie, first love, and the liberating freedom of music, the true self can be discovered.

The film follows Johan Niemand, who gets called up for military service at the age of 18 in 1986 South Africa, but he is also accepted to the SADF Choir called the ‘Canaries’.

Against a landscape where law and religion oppress individuality, Johan and the Canaries have to survive military training and go on a nationwide tour of the country, travelling from town to town, entertaining people whilst also fortifying the belief in the military effort and promoting the cause of both Church and State. 

On tour, Johan falls in love with a fellow choir mate and starts to question everything about himself and his world. He meets a myriad of characters; some proud of the choir efforts and others who awaken him to the realities and truth of Apartheid South Africa. As Johan starts questioning his religion, patriotism, and sexuality, his emerging creativity and passion for music lead to direct conflict with his commanding officers.



In Sally Potter's adaption of Virginia Woolf's novel 'Orlando', Tilda Swinton stars as the eponymous aristocrat, Orlando, who is born as a male nobleman in England during the reign of Elizabeth I. 

But at the age of 30, Orlando mysteriously changes his sex and lives for more than 300 years.

From the sweeping grandeur of Victorian royalty to the mesmerising shores of Constantinople, Orlando battles sexual politics at every turn.

The film premiered at the Venice International Film Festival to great critical acclaim, especially for Swinton's performance.



Moving away from her usual quirky comic films, Japanese director Naoko Ogigami turns in a morally serious, but heart-warming, study of transgender family relationships in her newest film 'Close Knit'.

The film follows Tomo Ogawa, an 11-year-old girl who grows close to her uncle's transgender girlfriend after Tomo's mother, who has been raising her alone, unexpectedly runs off and leaves Tomo behind.

'Close Knit' won the Teddy Jury Award at the Berlin International Film Festival.



The first Filipino film to be officially selected to the Sundance Film Festival, 'The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros' is a coming-of-age film that follows gay pre-teen Maxi, who works as a cleaner for his family of petty thieves. He cleans the house for them, cooks for them, washes their underwear, mends their tattered jeans, and when necessary, covers their tracks. His world revolves around his father and his two brothers, who love and protect him in return.

One day, Maxi meets Victor, an honest, principled, and handsome policeman. The two become friends. Victor inspires Maxi to hope for a better life, which incurs the ire of Maxi’s family.



The only documentary in the lineup, 'The Silk and the Flame' follows Yao, who, at 40 years old, is still single - and gay. 

He returns to his familial home in provincial China for Chinese New Year to visit his deaf-mute mother and invalid father, whose dying wish is to see his son wedded to the right woman - but Yao secretly wishes to marry the right man instead. 

 A quietly affecting documentary shot in a stark yet mesmerising black & white, 'The Silk and the Flame' is an intimate portrait of family, tradition and the struggle against conformity.

You can get your tickets here: http://theprojector.sg/category/pink-screen/
Comments
You say
  
 

Get Showtimes

Ads
Ads