Panel Discussion of Boys’ Love Movie Culture in Taiwan and East Asia

Originally a Japanese genre of fictional media depicting homoerotic relationships between male characters, the BL sweeps across Taiwan, the Philippines, and Thailand. There is an increasing production of TV dramas and feature films in these countries. During the 8th Taiwan International Queer Film Festival, two Philippine BL films, Hello Stranger: The Movie (2021) and Gameboys: The Movie (2021) were shown on the KKTIX, along with a Japanese film entitled Coming Home (2020). In addition to the online screenings, two panel discussions were held, inviting filmmakers and researchers from Taiwan, the Philippines, Thailand, and Australia to talk about their own works while discussing the emerging phenomenon of BL culture in these countries. 

The first panel discussion, moderated by the director of the Queer Festival  Yao Jin-ting, explored the idea of indulging beauty existing in Korea, Thailand, and the Philippines and its relation to  the male same-sex romance genre. The keynote speakers included cultural anthropologist Thomas Baudinette from Macquarie University and Chookiat Sakveerakul, the Thai director who has made the Love of Siam (2007) and Dew, Let's Go Together (2019).

The second event, chaired by Taiwanese film critic Michael Mai, invited Ivan Andrew Payawal to talk to Taiwanese filmmaker,  Ishtar Tsai. Ivan Andrew Payawal is the director of Gameboys: the Movie and Tsai has directed drama series including Hijra in Between (2018) and HIStory (2017-2019).