Fridae

A gay themed-film from Taiwan that touches on parent-child, sibling and gay love is to be screened at the upcoming 65th Berlin International Film Festival.

The film “Thanatos, Drunk (Zui Sheng Meng Si)” has been selected for the Panorama Fiction Feature Films section of the festival scheduled for Feb. 5-15. The section aims to highlight various aspects contemporary world cinema.

Thanatos, Drunk “touches on parent-child, sibling and gay love,” reports CNA and is directed by Chang Tso-chi. “The film follows the story of two brothers, one straight and one gay, as they struggle to find a foothold in life.”

The story revolves around the two brothers, the younger of whom sells vegetables at the market where he meets a girl who cannot speak but who gets up to all sorts of crazy things. The elder brother is attracted to a dancer at a nightclub and is drawn into some dubious business.

“Zui Sheng Meng Si proves once again that young Taiwanese cinema does not have to avail itself of classical storytelling to fascinate its audience. These are lives in limbo, without fixed coordinates. In this way the film evolves into a portrait of manners, and a panorama of a society that does not appear to welcome its next generation,” reports berlinale.de.

This 107 minute film in Mandarin is one of two films from Taiwan to be screened at the festival. The other film is “Paradise in Service” by director Doze Niu and is a coming-of-age story set in the 1960s. The two films will be part of 34 films from 29 countries that have been selected for the Panorama section of the festival.

According to the festival’s website, the Panorama section has “films by renowned directors, debut films and new discoveries.” The selection of films, it says “provides insight on new directions in art house cinema.”