East Palace, West Palace. 1996. Directed by Zhang Yuan

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East Palace, West Palace. 1996. China. Directed by Zhang Yuan. Courtesy Fortissimo Films

East Palace, West Palace. 1996. China. Directed by Zhang Yuan. Screenplay by Zhang Yuan, Wang Xiaobo. With Hu Jun, Han Si, Zhao Wei. 35mm. In Mandarin; English subtitles. 90 min.

East Palace and West Palace, public bathrooms on opposite sides of Beijing’s Tiananmen, are popular gay cruising spots frequently raided by the police. While in detention after one such raid, a queer writer (Si Han) spends a long night in close quarters with a hostile yet curious officer (Hu Jun). The pair engage in a psychological tug of war, in which the officer finds himself simultaneously the interrogator and the subject of examination. One of the first Chinese films to address the queer experience, this nocturnal chamber piece remains a daring standout in the post-Tiananmen student movement era.

This film accompanies A View From the Vaults 2023: Films in 16 and 35mm.

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