Sexy Hong Kong-Set Drama ‘Queerpanorama’ Boarded by Sales Company Best Friend Forever Ahead of Berlin Film Festival Premiere
“Queerpanorama,” the latest feature by Hong Kong filmmaker Jun Li, has been boarded by Brussels-based sales company Best Friend Forever (“Universal Language”) ahead of its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival.
Slated to bow in the Panorama section, the movie marks Li’s follow up to “Drifting” which premiered in competition at Rotterdam in 2021 and won best adapted screenplay at the Golden Horse Awards. The film was also nominated for best picture at the Hong Kong Film Awards.
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Set in Hong Kong, “Queerpanorama” revolves around a gay man who “impersonates men he has had sex with and brings this new persona with him to his next sex date. Only by pretending to be someone else can he be truly himself,” the synopsis reads.
Best Friend Forever will launch international sales on “Queerpanorama” at the Berlin Film Festival’s EFM.
Li said he wrote the movie “at a very dark time of my life and in the face of drastic change in our world.”
“I recalled every little kindness and comfort I received from these strangers I met, and depicted the power of sex and queer solidarity we created in our fleeting encounters,” the director continued.
Best Friend Forever co-founders Martin Gondre and Charles Bin described the movie as a “contemporary cruising-story” that “blends a sensitive portrayal to its characters. The pair said “Queerpanorama” stands out with its “slick black & white photography and hot hook-up sex scenes, offering an elegant and sexy drama with a nouvelle vague feel, reminiscent of Wong Kar Wai or Eric Rohmer.”
“Queerpanorama” was produced by Jun Li and Zenni Corbin (“Drifting”) at Good Sin Production and Huang Yue (“The Shadowless Tower”) at La Fonte. The film stars newcomers Jayden Cheung, Erfan Shekarriz, Sebastian Mahito Soukup, Arm Anatphikorn, Phillip Smith, Wang Ko Yuan and Zenni Corbin.
Best Friend Forever will also attend the Berlinale with the sole documentary premiering in competition: “Timestamp” by Ukrainian filmmaker Kateryna Gornostai. Recent titles handled by the sales company also include the buzzy Sundance-title “The Things You Kill” by Alireza Khatami; Fantastic Fest Belgian Comedy “Heads or Fails” by Lenny and Harpo Guit; Directors’ Fortnight Audience Award winner and Oscar shortlisted “Universal Language” by Matthew Rankin; and Venice documentary “Peaches goes Bananas” by Marie Losier.
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