After a three-year hiatus, the Quezon City government is set to unveil the screens for the Quezon City International Pink Film Festival (QCIPFF), which runs from Nov. 14 to 25.
Since the city council’s approval of its landmark ordinance protecting the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, queer (LGBTQ+) community against discrimination and harassment, the Pink Film Festival continues to be at the forefront of gender empowerment and awareness in the city and in the country.
This year’s edition commemorates the 79th founding anniversary of Quezon City and the centennial of Philippine cinema.
Featured in the festival are a total of 64 international and local feature and short films.
Filmmakers and actors from the United States, Brazil, Indonesia, Tonga, Spain, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, Syria, Turkey, and the United Kingdom will participate in this year’s celebration.
The Philippines’ oldest film festival for the LGBTQ+ community features films on health and sexuality, as well as human rights. Seminars are to be held during the festival week with LGBTQ+ rights advocates leading the discussions.
Opening the festival on Nov. 14 is Jethro Patalinghug’s 50 Years of Fabulous, a documentary on the world’s oldest surviving LGBTQ+ charity organization, San Francisco’s Imperial Council.
Also featured in the international lineup are films celebrating gay pride and sexuality such as Brazil’s Liquid Truth, Japan’s Boys for Sale, and Turkey’s Mr. Gay Syria, Tonga’s Leitis in Waiting, and Thailand’s The Driver.
The Philippine lineup commemorates the life and contributions of former Quezon City Pride Council President and film director Soxie Topacio, his comedy film Ded na si Lolo leads the Philippine lineup.
The highlight of the local film program is PJ Raval’s documentary on the tragic life of Jennifer Laude titled Call Her ‘Ganda’” A special feature of the festival are 42 short films coming from various parts of the world and the archipelago.
Screenings are to be held at the Gateway Cinema Complex in Cubao, Nov. 19 to 21 at University of the Philippines Cine Adarna in Diliman, and Nov. 22 to 25 at Cinema Centenario in Maginhawa Street.
This year, the festival partners with Amnesty International Philippines to talk about the current health and human rights situation concerning the LGBTQ+ community. Project Red Ribbon Care Foundation will also conduct HIV awareness program and testing.
Without proper response, the number of Filipinos living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV AIDS) will tally around a quarter of a million by 2030. The Philippine National AIDS Council reports that in 2018, as many as 32 Filipinos were diagnosed with HIV-AIDS daily.
In relation to human rights record, a total of 164 cases of hate crimes against the LGBTQ+ community were recorded from 1996 to 2012.
QC an anti-discriminatory, LGBTQ+-friendly city
The first pro-LGBTQ+ legislation—with implementing rules and regulations—in Metro Manila was enacted here in Quezon City (Ordinance No. SP-1309, s. 2003). The ordinance prohibits all acts of discrimination committed against members of the LGBTQ+ who are either looking for jobs or working in government offices and for the private sector in the city.
Furthermore, a comprehensive anti-discrimination ordinance was proposed in 2014, with an objective to end prejudicial treatment based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression (SOGIE).
Overall, a 2017 report from Human Rights Watch shows that 19 cities and six provinces have enforced pro-LGBTQ+ ordinances—with a meager 15 percent of the whole Philippine population protected. The need for a national law on anti-discrimination is still pending, as the now 18-year-old Anti-Discrimination Bill awaits its fate at the Philippine Congress.