Contemporary Taiwanese Queer Film Series Kicks Off Madrid Pride Month

In response to June Pride Month, the 'Contemporary Taiwanese Queer Film' themed touring film festival recently kicked off at the 'Madrid Queer Film Festival', inviting Taiwanese film critic Tan Hao-ming and author Chi Ta-wei to attend and guide Spanish audiences through Taiwan's diverse queer culture.

The Cultural Division of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Spain and the Spanish LGBTQ+ rights non-profit organization 'Fundación Triángulo' have once again joined hands to host the 'Taiwan with Pride: Contemporary Taiwanese Queer Cinema' (Taiwán con Orgullo: Cine queer taiwanés actual) series. From June to October, it will tour four Spanish cities, screening nine recent Taiwanese feature films, short films, and documentaries on queer themes.

As June is Madrid's Pride Month, the 'Contemporary Taiwanese Queer Film' series chose 'Cinema Pride QueerCineMad' as its first stop. From the 1st to the 5th, a series of film screenings, panel discussions, and lectures were held at Cineteca Madrid and other cultural spaces.

The series selected nine Taiwanese queer film works, including director Chen Guan-jun's documentary 'One Life, Two Fates', Zhou Mei-yu's feature film 'Blindness', and You Han-ting's 'Hold a Western Funeral for Me', as well as short films 'My Mother is a Netizen', 'Miss Goldfish', 'Spring Dream', 'Big Fairy Girl', and 'The River and the Stone', which recently won the Best Narrative Short Film award at the Golden Harvest Awards.

Chang Yu-hsuan, Director of the Cultural Division in Spain, stated that the collaboration with Fundación Triángulo to promote Taiwanese queer films has been ongoing for two years. Since Taiwan served as the guest of honor at the LesGaiCineMad in 2024 and toured six major city LGBTQ+ film festivals in 2025, substantial results have been achieved.

Chang mentioned that over these two years, a precious friendship and rapport have been built with curator Miguel Lafuente. The Ministry of Culture specifically invited Lafuente to visit Taiwan in October 2025 for in-depth exchanges with Taiwan's film industry and arts community to deepen and expand this cultural cooperation.

To help Spanish audiences better understand the lives of contemporary Taiwanese queer communities, this year's series focuses on works by emerging directors and new productions released since 2023. The lineup covers themes such as family, youth, body, self-identity, and community relations, showcasing the topics and creative developments in Taiwanese queer cinema in recent years.

The Cultural Division invited film critic Tan Hao-ming to share the creative background and perspectives of Taiwanese queer cinema with Spanish audiences. During a pre-screening guide for 'Hold a Western Funeral for Me', Tan carefully explained the image of 'ghosts' in Taiwanese folk customs and popular culture, helping the audience understand the cultural differences presented in the film.

When asked by CNA whether he provided curatorial advice to Lafuente, Tan said that Lafuente was very serious during his visit to Taiwan, 'ordering' introductions to many curators and film critics, visiting and exchanging ideas with each one, absorbing many different viewpoints and tastes, resulting in a very diverse and wonderful selection this time.

Lafuente told CNA that during his visit to Taiwan, he attended three major film festivals: the Kaohsiung Film Festival, the Taiwan International Queer Film Festival, and the Taiwan International Women's Film Festival. He visited many places in Taipei, Tainan, and Kaohsiung, met many film professionals, and had a very special experience, especially unforgettable for Taiwan's cuisine, hospitality, and scenery.

Additionally, author Chi Ta-wei was invited to the TAI School of Film Arts in Madrid to hold a lecture on 'Taiwanese LGBTQ+ Literature and European Cinema'. Starting from Pai Hsien-yung's 'Taipei People', Chu Tien-wen's 'Notes of a Desolate Man', Chiu Miao-chin's 'The Crocodile's Journal', to his own queer sci-fi classic 'The Membrane', he discussed European films mentioned in these works, including Luchino Visconti's 'Death in Venice', Derek Jarman's 'The Last of England', and works by Federico Fellini and Pedro Almodóvar, tracing the connections between them.

Chi believes that combining film and literary activities can attract different audiences and readers, 'expanding the battlefield' for promoting Taiwanese culture. He also hopes that Taiwan and Europe can move from one-way cultural influence to two-way cultural exchange.

After kicking off in Madrid in June, this year's 'Contemporary Taiwanese Queer Film' series will tour LGBTQ+ film festivals in Cádiz, San Sebastián, and Guadix. It is part of the Ministry of Culture's '2026 European Year of Taiwanese Culture' series, presenting Taiwan's rich and diverse cultural内涵 and its values of freedom and open human rights to European audiences through cinematic art.