Fridae

Desiree Lim's 2001 feature, Sugar Sweet is said to be the first Japanese erotic film to be made by and about lesbians while her latest offering Floored By Love, which premiered at the New York Lesbian and Gay Film Festival in June 2005, could possibly be the first drama to address the issue of marriage and coming out issues of visible minorities on primetime Canadian TV.

Sugar Sweet, Floored By Love and seven of her shorts will be screened at the inaugural Girl Pride Asia to be held concurrently with Nation.V, Asia's most well known gay and lesbian event, in Phuket from Nov 4-6. In collaboration with Fridae, the 3-day event which is dubbed the first lesbian pride festival in Asia, will also include a film festival, pool parties, Shine (dance party), readings and music by and for women. More details at www.girlprideasia.com.

Fridae speaks to Desiree Lim on moving to Vancouver from Toyko, becoming a filmmaker, the lack of (better) erotic lesbian films and her thoughts on Sugar Sweet which was eventually marketed it as a "sexual" film to a straight male audience by the film's producers although it was initially meant to be 'authentic' lesbian erotic film.

æ: Your 2001 feature, Sugar Sweet is said to be the first Japanese film to be made by and about lesbians. The movie tells the story of a lesbian porn director whose closest friends have labeled her as a sellout due to her profession. Besides being screened at over 20 gay film festivals around the world, it was also hailed by the Village Voice as "a funny look at lesbian porn, sex toys, and online dating," and described by Asian Week as a "sex positive, lesbian love triangle."

According to your bio, you were approached by the production company to direct the film as they were "looking for a female director to direct an 'authentic' lesbian erotic film." It also marks the first time in Japan a commercial lesbian feature is directed by a queer and out filmmaker. Despite were given total creative control of the film, the film's producers eventually marketed it as a "sexual" film to the straight male audience which is quite ironic as that was the issue the protagonist's friends had. How did that pan out and how did you feel at the time as the film turned out to be art imitating life in a lot of ways?

Desiree: I was not too happy with the cover design for the video/DVD jacket of the Japanese version of Sugar Sweet - a montage of two naked women, and the way they sold me as an "authentic lesbian director." The film made its premiere at the Tokyo International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival to a sold-out audience. My impression of the response (or non-response) from the Japanese audience was that it became a film "too ahead of time" for them, and they pretty much didn't know how to take it. But when I took the film to North America, it took the continent by storm - trailblazing a series of sold-out screenings at every lesbian and gay film festival there. This was in 2002. Many women came up to me to say how much they enjoyed it and have long anticipated such a "positively-sex charged" film from Asia. So the unpleasant experience in Japan actually propelled me to make films here in North America. I haven't "given up" on the Tokyo scene though, with doors opening up more now because of the work I have done over here in North America. I strive to turn every obstacle, hurdle or unpleasant experience into positive energy for the next step in life.

æ: Despite feeling exploited in some ways as a queer woman, what difference do you think it made for yourself and other lesbian filmmakers in a male-dominated porn industry?

Desiree: The most important thing is the film got made and has been seen by many women in the world. It became a film that had never been made or seen before, but it got out there. That's a milestone in itself, I feel.

æ: Your other shorts including Dyke: Just Be It, Disposable Lez, Eroticism, Salty Wet, Some Real Fangs, Sugar Sweet, Floored By Love, Love/Censored/Truth, and Out For Bubble Tea will also be shown. Tell us more about them.

Desiree: Dyke: Just Be It is the first short I made after I graduated from university. It is an experimental short with a subversive spin on a Nike ad: Just Do it. I turned it into an experimental ad promoting lesbian visibility in Tokyo.

Disposable Lez is a naughty poke at the "incestuous" nature of the dating pool in the lesbian community. I made this to encourage lesbians to "recycle" their dates, a universal phenomenon that can be seen internationally, according to my amateurish anthropological observations.

Eroticism is a video poem written by five queer women in Japanese and I visualised their poems with video. It's a piece of work that was made for the "Women Breaking Boundaries 2000" art exhibition in Tokyo. I also made a feature-length documentary about the making of this art exhibition - the first of its kind in Japan, showcasing art work by emerging to established women artists as a group exhibition.

Salty Wet is my first piece of video work in Canada. It is a joined collaboration with Vancouver artist Winston Xin. Winston and I both share a common background as Malaysian-born Chinese Canadian immigrant and we wanted to make a video that deciphers and mis-deciphers the interpretation of slangs by Chinese immigrants and Chinese Canadians born here. The result is an irreverent, provocative yet funny piece of satire on sexual slangs.

Out For Bubble Tea is my first Canadian TV dramatic short that was broadcasted on Citytv across the country. It is probably the first Asian drama to address the story and issues of a Chinese lesbian coming out to her family - to be seen on primetime Canadian TV.

Some Real Fangs is a fantasy dance musical about a vampire wannabe's quest for true love and some real fangs. This is a co-production between Canada and Japan, scheduled to be released on DVD in Japan next year. Some Real Fangs won the Best Video Special Mention Award at the 20th International Turin Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.

Floored By Love is my latest television drama in Canada about a Chinese-Japanese lesbian couple contemplating marriage and a Jewish- African family coping with their newly out teenage gay son. This drama is part of Citytv's anthology series 8 Stories About Love that is scheduled to broadcast primetime on Sunday nights. Floored By Love is again, most likely the FIRST drama to address the issue of marriage and coming out issues of visible minorities (ie non-Caucasian folks) on primetime Canadian TV. As you can see, my work continues to push boundaries of conventional mainstream media and culture, no matter where I choose to make my films.

æ: You are a second generation Chinese, born in Malaysia but grew up in Japan where you obtained your BA in Journalism at Sophia University in Tokyo. Now, you live in Vancouver, Canada. Tell us more about your decision to move to Tokyo and later, Vancouver.

Desiree: As a teenager, I was an ardent student of Kendo - the art of Japanese Fencing, which I took up in Malaysia. My passion to pursue the art in Japan motivated me to move there at the age of 18, and I went on to study for my university degree in Tokyo. My career in television also started in Japan. My decision to leave Japan is mainly because I felt there was a lack of support and understanding in what I was trying to do, ie the stories I was trying to tell - to a larger audience. It didn't feel like I could keep telling the stories I wanted to tell on a professional and commercial basis, on a level where I could make a living out of my work. I have always wanted to experience living in the West, and felt it was the right time for me to explore opportunities there. I am happy I made the move. Not only do I have more options and avenues to tell my stories, my audience "gets" me in the most gratifying ways. And they are a very vocal, supportive and sophisticated audience�that has been long exposed to a history of international queer films. Even the mainstream audience is much more attuned to queer issues and open to new, non-conventional ideas when it comes to sexuality. With better understanding and more open minds in the audience, there is less of an "exotic" or "voyeuristic" eye from them towards issues of gender and sexuality. I'm not saying ALL North Americans are totally progressive and enlightened, I just mean there are quite of few out there who can appreciate edgy, non-conventional films from different cultures, these days.

Vancouver has a very close-knit filmmaking community that appreciates the cultivation of a diverse film culture. For example, Deepa Metha's latest film Water was the opening film of this year's Vancouver International Film Festival, and it's a film made entirely in Hindi. But it's still proudly recognised as a Canadian film, with full support from the Canadian film funding agency. That's what I love about Canada - how it embraces diverse ethnicities and cultures as their own, the Canadian identity is complex but rich. The downside of things is that Caucasian culture still dominates the screens - big and small (no thanks to colonialism), and I am one of the many filmmakers who are trying to bring more diverse voices out there. There is still a lot to be done for that to happen, and it's a slow and gradual process.

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æ: How did you get into filmmaking?

Desiree: I remember when I first discovered my sexuality as a queer woman over 10 years ago, I looked for images of queer women in film in Japan. The first film that caught my eye was one called Three Of Hearts starring William Baldwin and Kelly Lynch. It was about a lesbian who gets jilted by her bi-sexual girlfriend and tries to win her back by hiring a gigolo to break her heart. In the end, her girlfriend ends up falling in love with the gigolo, instead. I was appalled at the way the film ended and became all fired up by it, picked up my 8mm video camera and made my first film. It was called Closets Are For Clothes. The film was about a lesbian fending off the advances of a straight guy. I guess that was my revenge for how the mainstream Hollywood films decided to portray lesbians back then - that we can never hold the candle to a man. So I wanted to make my revenge by having a lesbian push a straight guy away! Closets Are For Clothes won an award at the Tokyo Lesbian and Gay Film Festival in 1995 and that really encouraged me to tell my stories through video making. I started making indie shorts using my first digital video camera, and taught myself non-linear editing on my first Apple desktop computer. This was back in the early 90s when non-linear editing was still "state-of-the-art" technology and digital video cameras were still not as prevalent as they are today. Those were the days when I made shorts like Dyke: Just Be It and Disposable Lez.

æ: We frequently hear lesbians lamenting about the lack of (better) erotic lesbian films out there as in films not made for straight male audiences. Why do you think there's a lack of authentic lesbian porn or erotic films? Do you accept the widely held notion that lesbians are less sex-centric and therefore not as attractive as a target market, or do you think that the low "consumption" is directly caused by the lack of attractive options?

Desiree: Good questions - these two questions are interrelated, so I'll answer them together. I think it's a matter of having a few more brave and sexy women filmmakers out there picking up their cameras and just do it! One reason I can think of why there just aren't as many women who are making porn out there is because many women are still shy, embarrassed and sometimes, ashamed of their sexuality - not just because they are queer but in general, women have been conditioned and brainwashed to think they are not suppose to "enjoy sex" as a natural human instinct. It is still a dirty little secret that they shouldn't be too vocal about. This inner "sex-phobia" and sometimes "homophobia" can be contributing factors to a lack of desire to consume porn as much as men do. Also, as part of the vicious circle - there just aren't enough good female porn out there for women to buy into. Someone should start a female porn enterprise - with good taste and innovative ideas.

æ: Other than San Francisco's S.I.R. Productions (stands for Sex, Indulgence, and Rock 'n' Roll, http://www.sirvideo.com) which have released two titles, which other film makers/ titles should readers check out?

Desiree: I personally have not seen any lesbian porn that had impressed me, so I don't have anything to recommend, I'm afraid.

æ: What are you currently occupied with and are there any projects we should look out for?

Desiree: I am always writing and developing several scripts at the same time. Some of them are in the process of seeking financing; some are still in the writing stage. I will keep you all posted when I have a new film coming out.

æ: What inspires you?

Desiree: Films, theater, dance, music, art, and the gifts of Mother Nature that we so often fail to remember and notice. Also success stories of progressive, conscientious, self-aware, compassionate people inspire me, as well.

æ: What is the achievement you are most proud of?

Desiree: When my first long form narrative film Sugar Sweet opened to sold-out audiences in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, Vancouver and many other major lesbian and gay film festivals. Nothing beats the electric high in the air when you see long rows of women and men lining up to watch your film in 300 - 600 seat theaters! That's precious.

æ: If you could do it all over again, what would you change?

Desiree: Start making films much younger, so I can have more time to play and experiment throughout my growth as a human being� Having more budget to shoot a better film. Because money buys you more time to shoot. I shot Sugar Sweet in six days with NO sleep, so go figure.

æ: How are you misunderstood?

Desiree: That being queer is ALL I am and have to say.

æ: Tell us one of your fantasies?

Desiree: To make bigger, better films that are poignant, funny and entertaining that would reach out to many, many people and touch them.

æ: What was the most important thing that happened to you in the last 12 months?

Desiree: Finally shooting my first long form drama in Canada ie Floored by Love. In filmmaking, you never know if it's really happening until it really happens, and you're shooting the film.

æ: What do you think is important in a relationship?

Desiree: Honest communication, compassion, self-awareness, spirituality.

æ: What (or who) turns you on?

Desiree: Down-to-earth, creative women who speak intelligent, emotional and spiritual truth about themselves, the world around them and, myself.

æ: What's your biggest guilty pleasure?

Desiree: It wouldn't feel "guilty" anymore if I told you.

æ: Tell us about a cause that you support?

Desiree: Conserving energy, wild life and environment.

æ: Tell us something even your mother doesn't know.

Desiree: That I never lost my virginity� to a man.

For DVD purchase of Sugar Sweet, go to www.wolfevideo.com. Floored by Love DVD will only be out next year, pre-orders can be made by emailing Desiree through www.flooredbylove.com.