“Let the Rainbow Shine Forth “ALFF Inter-Asia Forum
De-Euro-American-centric, local perspectives, inter-asian united (historical, cultural, political-economical differences and similarities)

Aug. 25, 2005. 2 pm-5pm　Free Entrance
National Tsing Hua University, Taipei Office
#110 No., Jinhua St., Taipei

Hosts:
LIU Jen-Peng ( National Tsing Hua University, Director, Asia-Pacific Center )
Josephine HO Chuen-juei ( National Central University, Director, Center for the Study of Sexualities )
WANG Ping ( Gender/Sexuality Rights Association Taiwan, Secretary General )

Invited Speakers:
Asian Filmmakers

In the past, most of the LGBT films and social movement information circulating in Taiwan, as well as in most of Asia, have originated from the US and Europe.

Although issues about “coming-out” and striving for legal companion rights arising from these societies instill us all with energy and hope, yet there are other issues, such as discriminatory strategies that do not manifest in hate speech or physical action, or the negotiations between individual emotional and life choices and family-clan expectations, or even the prevalent view that “women” must conform to society’s gender and physical domestication, and sacrifice her “part” for family and society’s “whole.”

These and other issues are ones that have continued to be difficult to formulate in Asia, and necessitate discussion in order to be resolved.

The Asian Lesbian Film and Video Festival attempts to overcome limited resources and language barrier in order to bring into public discussion in Taiwan, and hopefully, elsewhere in Asia, lesbian films/videos produced within cultures and societies that share a certain historical modernity.

We hope that through the interchange of images and stories about ourselves, we will be able to build up communication amongst and between us, and come to further understand our similarities and differences, insofar as these are embedded within local, regional, and global histories, cultures, economics and politics.

We will share and discuss but also promote and encourage the representation of lesbian/lgbt/queer images and film. We will take this occasion to talk about issues of visibility, coming out, media representation, sex and genders, women’s relationships, family, violence and social justice. We hope that by connecting up and sharing our different lesbian situations, we will be able to construct an inter-asian lesbian-queer community dialogue that will resonate amongst our communities back home as well as empowering us toward working for social change.