Nothing is impossible. With only $40,000 in their hands, Raymond Yau Kae-yeung and his comrades at the Lesbian and Gay Film Festival decided to go ahead with their plans rather than cancel the movie showcase.
Despite the lack of government funding and big-name sponsors, the organisers of this year's festival have managed to organise screenings of 22 camp films and forums on gay issues and culture.
'Although this is the 13th Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, it was first held 16 years ago. We really do not want to skip this year. The festival has to be continued,' says Mr Yau, director of the festival.
But it is not an easy mission. The Hong Kong Arts Development Council rejected their application for funding. A lot of previous big sponsors pulled out. A fund-raising party held earlier this year at Rice Bar raised only a few thousand dollars, and eight tickets to the opening gala were sold.
Luckily, the festival has managed to source 13 full-length features and nine shorts from the United States, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Israel, Australia, China, Thailand, Japan and South Korea. Mr Yau says to celebrate Hong Kong's recovery from Sars, some companies agreed to lend their films free of charge.
Camp is this year's theme. Mr Yau says that this is the right moment to apply gay humour. 'This year has been so depressing. We want to have some fun. While Hong Kong people generally do not have a good sense of humour, we want to highlight gay humour. Gay people can always have a laugh about anything at any time, even at bad times,' he says.
