The Old Testament
Cui Zien
Release year: 2002
Run time: 74 min
Film type: Fiction
Synopsis
Three episodic stories form the core of this experimental feature, each dealing with a range of issues, including AIDS, homophobia, and biphobia. The first storyline concerns a gay couple, one of whom brings home a mysterious young stranger. The second storyline concerns a bisexual gigolo who marries both his male and female lovers. The third storyline concerns the emotional abuse that two gay college students receive from their families when their relationship is uncovered. The film is interwoven with biblical references, and features a chorus which signs the conclusion to each story.
Director biography
Cui Zi’en (born Heilongjiang, 1958) is a film director, essayist, and novelist. He became known in the 1990s as an outspoken queer activist. He is known as an avant-garde underground director in China. His notable films about homosexuality include the documentary Queer China, Comrade China (2009), which deals with changes in Chinese LGBT culture over the last 30 years. He has written books on theory and criticism as well as publishing nine novels in China and Hong Kong, one of which, Uncle’s Past, won the 2001 Radio Literature Award in Germany. He also taught at the Beijing Film Academy.