藍宇 (Lan Yu). 2001. Hong Kong/China. Directed by Stanley Kwan. 35mm. In Mandarin; English subtitles. 86 min.
A festival favorite when it was released internationally, Lan Yu was adapted from Beijing Comrades, an explicit gay love story that was serialized and published anonymously on the internet during the 1990s. Set in post-Mao China, following the Tiananmen Square massacre, it follows the developing sexual relationship between a socially prominent businessman fearful of commitment and a passionate young student. Made in the tradition of a classic melodrama, it has been praised for its sensitive, mature treatment of “queer intimacy.”