In/Visibility

Beijing Queer Film Festival and Alternative Queer Space

Bibliographic Data

ID22264232
AuthorsNathan Shui (corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume3
Issue0
Publication date2023-05-31
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
Venuereact/review a responsive journal for art and architecture (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2768-3168 • E-ISSN: 2768-3168
PublisherCalifornia Digital Library (CDL) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.5070/r53061229
OpenAlexW4378901934
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited8

Founded in 2001 by Chinese film director Cui Zi’en and students from Beijing University, the Beijing Queer Film Festival (BQFF) is China's longest-running independent film festival centered on queer media and visual culture. In this article, I approach the BQFF by focusing on the issue of queer visibility, a particular mode of queer self-manifestation that fluctuates between the states of concealment and disclosure—a contingent condition of existence that undergirds how sexual minorities in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) negotiate and navigate power despite their culturally and politically constricted existence. I explore how the Festival contributes to disrupting state power without using overtly aggressive tactics. I argue that the astonishing longevity achieved by the BQFF organizers necessitates further scholarly attention to the cultural and political efficacy of an ambiguous queer visibility as enacted by the Festival tactics

Aesthetics · Art · Beijing · China · Film festival · Geography · Media studies · Negotiation · Political science · Politics · Queer · Social science · Sociology · Visibility · Asian Culture and Media Studies · European history and politics · Gender Studies · Japanese History and Culture · Law

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access