There is No Name for This... 1997 / 50 Minutes Chinese / English / Subtitled NTSC / Stereo / Color / Betacam SP video Distributed by: API Wellness Center |
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First Place, Documentary Category, Chicago Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, 1997. There is No Name for This… explores the joys and difficulties of coming out across cultural and language barriers among Chinese and Chinese American lesbians, gays and bisexuals. The first video to examine the lack of vocabulary to explain issues of identity in Chinese languages. There is No Name for This... introduces twenty-one individuals in various stages of coming out and how their family and friends have responded to them. Some of the most candid interviews include family members talking about their initial responses and what it felt like when they first heard that, “my sister was a lesbian…” What follows is the coming out process a family member naturally experiences when sharing such information with other friends and family. By integrating interviews, video letters, poetry, and informal conversations, this documentary not only raises common questions and conflicts that arise in the context of family relationships, but also offers relevant and practical considerations for addressing homophobia and the process of coming out in culturally appropriate ways. Ranging in age from seventeen to seventy-six, the interviewees reflect a wide diversity in age, background, immigrant status, and lifestyle. Currently residents of the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Dallas, they originate from various regions of the U.S., Singapore, mainland China, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Taiwan and Honduras—reflecting the diversity within the Chinese community itself. |