An intimate ode to gay hook-up culture with a screening of the short When the House Lights Come On as prelude
In Queerpanorama, we follow a gay man who impersonates the men he had sex with by bringing their persona with him to his next hook-up. He shapeshifts from an architect to a student, from a teacher to a delivery driver. Only by pretending to be someone else can he be truly himself.
Completely shot black and white, this film has a quality to it that critics describe as a “gritty fly-on-the-wall” experience. Adding to this intimate atmosphere is the fact that director Jun Li lifted the experiences and conversations in this film from his personal experience, but with, as Li describes, “a wind of fiction.” This impacted the casting process in an interesting way, since Li casted his past hook-ups as non-professional actors to play the protagonists’ love interests. Undeniably then, this movie is an ode to both the good and the bad of hook-up culture through and through.
With the short When the House Lights Come On (2023) as prelude.
WHEN THE HOUSE LIGHTS COME ON— Apa Agbayani (Philippines, 12 mins)
In 2044, a middle-aged gay man finds himself aging out of the Manila rave scene. A chance encounter with a mischievous ex-lover changes the tune of his last kembot.
CW: flashing lights
