- Title: CHINA: " FISH AND ELEPHANT" A NEW CHINESE FILM ABOUT THE LESBIAN SCENE.
- Date: 1st October 2002
- Summary: BEIJING, CHINA (JULY 27, 2002) (REUTERS) SV: LI YU, DIRECTOR OF "FISH AND ELEPHANT" SITTING IN STUDIO SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) LI YU, DIRECTOR OF "FISH AND ELEPHANT" SITTING IN STUDIO, SAYING: "I tried out two actresses for the part, but they felt repelled and they couldn't even stand the feeling of their skin touching each other -- so how could they act in this kind
- Embargoed: 16th October 2002 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BEIJING, CHINA
- Country: China
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA8PIO1TZT6O2RE6K27CG0RF1VE
- Story Text: "Fish and Elephant", a ground-breaking new Chinese film, is lifting the lid on China's lesbian scene. But while the movie is causing a sensation on the international festival circuit, the film is unlikely to be ever screened officially in China.
It's a tale of love, betrayal and abuse -- but the main actresses are lesbians and the theme is gay love in China.
"Fish and Elephant", a debut film by 29-year-old director Li Yu (pronounced lee yu) is the first of its kind in China.
The movie has caused a sensation on the international festival circuit, but it is unlikely to be ever screened officially in China.
In a country where homosexuality was officially regarded as a mental illness until last year, this film has lifted the lid on a topic which most people try to avoid.
Artist Shitou (pronounced shur-tou) who plays Xiaoling (pronounced Hsiao-ling) in the film says the movie is crucial on raising awareness about homosexuality in China. While there have been movies about the gay community in China, "Fish and Elephant"
is the first to illustrate lesbian love.
"I think the most important thing is that there has never been a voice for gay people and there are so few opportunities.
You never see programmes on TV about it -- so there might be people who are gay but never know it, so they go through life confused. Films like this should be shown so that people can work out where they stand with their feelings."
Shitou is one of the few Chinese lesbians who is willing to be identified.
China has long kept homosexuals in the closet. While it effectively decriminalised homosexuality only in 1997, many gay people still fear ostracism if they come out.
Many gay women are pressured into getting married and produce an heir for the family - as are the women in the film.
In the movie, Xiaoqun (pronounced hsiao-chun) an elephant keeper in Beijing Zoo seduces Xiaoling, who runs a clothes stall and is busy avoiding her ex-boyfriend.
But Xiaoqun's mother, unaware that her daughter is gay is desperate to find her an eligible man.
To effectivley depict men's reaction to being told their blind date was gay, Li Yu took out fake personal ads recruiting single men as actors and it wasn't till her cameras were rolling that the men found out.
Most of the men didn't believe that the actresses were gay and others were angry that they were acting in a film depicting such a taboo subject.
Li Yu also found it difficult to find women who were willing or creative enough to play a lesbian.
"I tried out two actresses for the part, but they felt repelled and they couldn't even stand the feeling of their skin touching each other -- so how could they act in this kind of film. Many girls felt the same way. Even if they worked together on the film, they just regarded it as a game and they had absolutely no true emotional feelings. The feeling between two lesbians is quite different. Sometimes it can be very touching and they are always intimate. I asked Shitou to look for some people, some lesbians to contact. In the end, I realised that Shitou and her former girlfriend would fit the part."
Shitou, who has been approached by other film-makers keen to address a sensitive topic said she chose Li Yu's film because the script was true to life.
Even though the artist enjoyed acting in her first film, she said the hardest part was the bedroom scene.
Li Yu flouts Chinese conventions and shows steamy sex scenes and masturbation in "Fish and Elephant".
"When I had to act out the bedroom scene in the film, and get close with the other girl -- I felt really worried for a couple of days and I was really stressed. In the end we drank some alcohol -- the director kept making us drink, but even when I was drunk my mind was really clear. I was so worried that I couldn't do anything about it. But, by the time we started I didn't worry about anything," Shitou said.
"Fish and Elephant" was shot on a low 300,000 yuan budget (36,300 US dollars).
Li Yu, a former Shandong TV host, used to be the darling of broadcasting until she turned her back on state media after becoming fed up with not being able to voice her own opinions.
While she is not gay, she said her gay friends inspired her to pen the story and they helped with the script.
In the film, Xiaoqun's mother eventually comes to accept that her daughter is gay - but for many people in China that is a dream that will never come true.
The film has been shown at international festivals in Venice, Toronto and San Francisco and has had one underground screening in Beijing - but it's unlikely to ever hit normal cinema screens because of China's strict censorship.
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