AT PRIMARY school the Chinese girls would often walk into the toilets hand in hand. No one else in the school did it, only the Chinese girls. I used to watch them; fascinated – could it be that there were (gasp) gay girls at my school? As a ten-year-old the idea was so exciting; I could be witnessing deviance in action!

My hopes were dashed when I saw similar groups of girls holding hands out in public; I hadn't happened upon something special, little gay Chinese girls were everywhere.

When I finally asked someone how it was that in societies as tightly controlled as China, Taiwan, Korea there could be so many overt lesbians. Their response was at first a shock of laughter and then a long low shake of the head.

"They aren't all gay! They are friends, they hold hands, I hold my mothers hand, I hold my friends hand; no difference! Does everyone think we are all gay?"

At that point I had to beat a hasty retreat; I didn't want to be the one to explain that yes, many of us did think they were gay (just a little bit) – the shame I felt at being so ignorant, so rooted in my own little world of values, was enough to make me want to run and hide.

The two young girls in Butterfly hark back to these ten year old imaginings; swapping smiles and sly notes across the classroom, running out of school to hang out on high-rise roof tops, listening to passionate Patti Smith inspired lyrics and yes, holding hands in the process. These are the invigorating things I imagined the bathroom girls did at school when they weren't studying; they must have, they always had smiles on their faces, smiles with sudden giggles that I was forever jealous of – why did I have to bother with boys who forever dumbfounded me?

Perhaps it is such questions that linger with me that Butterfly was able to tap into – the peacefulness, the anger, the disenfranchised youths wanting to touch something that didn't need to turn around and penetrate them in response.

For those who have some experience growing up in a Chinese society the themes of this film will take very little explaining; the rejection of lesbianism (because females can't have sex – there is no penetration, not male essence, no chance of procreation – right?), the high value society places on children, the importance of appearing and performing normally. For those who haven't grown up around such values however, the film will still resonate with you; you could question whether the west treats homosexuality as a 'real' choice yet, whether we think women are as important as the baby inside them, whether there really is a 'normal' that the majority of the population bell curve actually live up to.

The film is based around Flavia's reflection upon her past; a reminiscing that is prompted by a young woman who inserts herself into Flavia's life. The affinity, stimulation and longing that she feels for this young woman bring backs painful memories of her young love – the school yard-University quad romance with the Patti Smith soundtrack. Married with a little baby and a flash pad, Flavia isn't in a position to make the heart driven decisions that she once could – plus last time she followed her heart a piece of it was taken; locked away in a nunnery.

With mesmerising cinematography, flawless acting and everyday emotion played raw against the blink-of-an-eye Hong Kong backdrop, Butterfly finds that little empty space that you keep to yourself, grabs its hand and takes it away for a serious talk.

–Imogen Neale

Gay Republicans (2004)
Wash Westmore | USA | 63 min

IT WOULD appear and seem as if the Republican party has gone straight down the tubes! Turning a supposed 180 by expressing that the sanctity of marriage ain't a basic human right, and furthermore is refusing entry into such a legal state if your partner can't cause baby making to occur. This news divided The Log Cabin Party, a sector of Republicans who just so happen to like people who have matching body parts, and you know which ones I'm talkin' about. Oxymoron much? They do!

So where does this leave us? Following four members, three gents who prefer other gents, and one lady who prefers ladies, we are privy to their thoughts and feelings surrounding the decision of the Republican party to deny their ability to legally and publically declare their attachment to their partner. Two steadfastly support their party, two are upset with this decision and wrestle with the reality that they're not wanted in their own party (much less acknowledged).

So! After setting up the circumstances Westmoreland allows hilarity to ensue, but only in the form of watching two men desperately attempt to back their stand on Being A Republican:

"I consider myself to be a Republican first and a gay man secondly."

While these quips amuse, they do not hold the film up and the second half drags. The film takes a sharp turn from allowing these two men to make an ass of themselves on camera to showing how deeply disillusioned they are, and how their foolish standpoints hurt the other two Log Cabin-ers, one of whom is married.

While the film provides a viewpoint on the reality of being gay in America, it is quicker to point out the growing importance of independent decision making within a country whose ruling party continues to grow in popularity by shamefully marginalising minority groups.

–Kim Lesch

The annual Out Takes Gay & Lesbian Film Festival opens in Auckland on May 26 through until June 6, then relocates to Wellington (June 2-12) before concluding in Christchurch (June 9-15). Visit outtakes.org.nz or download the media release here

UPDATED: 10.07.05 | Print-friendly Version | © Imogen Neale, Kim Lesch / Lumière 2005 | www.lumiere.net.nz