Taiwanese filmmaker aspires to show Taiwan's openness with queer film

Melbourne, June 2 (CNA) Su I-hsuan (蘇奕瑄), Taiwanese director of "Who'll Stop the Rain" (青春並不溫柔), said the aim of her queer film which screened on Saturday as the closing movie at the Melbourne Taiwan Film Festival 2024 (MTFF) was to showcase her country's openness.

The film follows the story of two girls falling in love while involved in a student strike fighting for freedom of expression, inspired by true events that took place at a Taipei-based university in 1994.

At the Q&A session after the screening, Su said she began developing the idea for and researching her film in 2014 while participating in the Sunflower Movement, a civil movement sparked by concern over China's economic sway over Taiwan. This resulted in the first draft of the script in 2015 centering heavily on the protests.

However, she was able to distance herself from the events as she continued to develop the script after 2018.

Following Taiwan's legalization of same-sex marriage in 2019, she also changed the original pessimistic ending of the film, to give it a more contemporary feel, she said.

Su added that she had initially worried about the acceptance of the subject matter by investors due to the "China factor." Still, she thought it was ridiculous to self-censor while making a film about freedom of expression, so she continued.

Su also told CNA that there had been few queer films in Taiwan before 2019. Therefore, she hoped her movie could show the world that Taiwan can make such films and that she is from the most democratic and open country in Asia and of the Chinese-speaking nations.

Emotions and love are common among people regardless of their nationality or sexual orientation, Su said.

Australian audiences seemed to be touched by the film, with many expressing their love for it after its Australian premiere, which was at the 31st Mardi Gras Film Festival, a queer film festival, in Sydney this February.

Su had explained at the Q&A session after the February premiere that the film's English title is taken from an anti-war song by American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival and that the rain symbolizes society and the establishment, also echoing the rainy season in which the events occurred.

The two other films screened at MTFF were "Trouble Girl" (小曉) directed by Chin Chia-hua (靳家驊) and "Lokah Laqi" (只要我長大) directed by Laha Mebow, according to the festival's official Facebook page.

The film festival, held for its third year from May 30 - June 1, was established by the Australasian Taiwan Studies Association, which is dedicated to promoting Taiwan studies and culture in Australia, according to its website, which states "films are an effective medium that helps everyone understand Taiwan."