Beta SP PAL Col. 13 min.

by Menotti Bucco 

editing Marco Ruocco

translation from Chinese by Alessandra Novello

The film gives a glance on the condition of Chinese gay people in Beijing. Chinese authorities condemn gay people to 5 years of imprisonment with the charge of “Hooliganism” or “Trouble of Social Order”. Only recently, with the opening to the western world, few gay bars have been opened for a minority of Chinese gays who can afford them, but the vast majority still needs to meet with discretion in a park where it is semi - tolerated by police.

The film shows through interviews to a bar owner, intellectuals, lesbians and gay people in the park the cultural environment in which they live. It also features an interview with Chinese director Zhang Yuan who won the directing prize at Venezia Film Festival 1999 and two clips from Yuan’s feature film “East Palace, West Palace”.

The film (in the Italian version Amori Proibiti)won the Reportage Prize at the Salerno International Film Festival in 1999