Lok, a 34-year-old filmmaker from Macau, has been drifting through Hong Kong’s film industry. Although she has already directed a feature film, her life remains unstable, her next project has stalled, and her girlfriend Bei Bei is pushing for them to get married, buy a house, and settle down. Facing multiple pressures, Lok revisits different moments in her past: when she was studying in Taiwan aged 22, and when she was growing up in Macau aged 17.
In this female-centred coming-of-age drama, director Tracy Choi asks what it means to be true to oneself, exploring the ways in which past experiences shape the present. Unusual in its geographic scope, use of a reverse-chronological timeline, and apparently autobiographical elements, Girlfriends is a romantic, intelligent reflection on queer identity.
Queer East
Founded in 2020 with the aim of elevating queer and Asian voices in the UK, Queer East has become one of the most important activities in the country’s cultural calendar.
Director Tracy Choi
Duration
1h 40m
Language Cantonese, Chinese with English subtitles