Korean Premiere

SYNOPSIS
What happens when 300 lesbians from around the world attend the largest United Nations conference? How did two busloads of lesbians headed to an underground nightclub help spark the birth of a lala movement in China? At the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, the first ever lesbian tent at an UN NGO Forum was created. At the tent, ideas were shared, connections were made, identities were assured… with a growing emergence of energy for change.
 

PROGRAM NOTE

 This film is a retrospective work on the history and significance of the lesbian movement in China. The film starts from the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. The Chinese government hoped that this conference would be a chance to reestablish their position and status to the world. But the tents of lesbian activists set up outside the NGO forum were liberating spaces, and the lesbian issues which had up until then been considered to be a \'Western problem\' became an agenda among feminists in China. With the abolition of laws against \'hooliganism\' in 1997, Chinese lesbian activists have published their own media, produced films, held lesbian camps and conferences, and now take actions on the national stage, in front of the public. Five activists, who were detained just before the International Women’s Day on March 8, 2015, were lesbians who had done such activities as young feminist activists. The title of this film ‘We Are Here’ is a message addressing not only Chinese society, but women’s movements in China. Although lesbian issues were not officially discussed in Chinese major women’s movement associations, including the ‘Women’s League,’ the activities of lesbians in China blur the boundaries of women\'s identities, systems, and sexuality while breaking down the taboos of ‘tradition,’ ‘morality,’ and ‘norms.’ (Na Young)