Asian Queer Shorts. San Francisco: Frameline, 2009. $24.99. 85 min.

Strand Releasing has packaged five Asian gay short films from Frameline that have been on the film festival circuit the last few years. Asian directors from Indonisia, the Philippines, the United States, and the UK examine contemporary gay life in their respective gay communities, while a South Korean director takes an historical approach.

As with many anthologies, the collection is a mixed bag. The oldest film, Yellow Fever, from the UK, examines (in a campy way) whether or not an Asian man can be happy with another Asian, as opposed to a Caucasian. In Dissolution of Bodies, from the US, two men having a one night stand discuss the philosophy of the body and of desire. Last Full Show, examines the first crush of a Filipino young man. In A Crimson Mark, a Korean government bureaucrat falls in love with a younger, less powerful man. And in the Indonesian film, Still―to me, the least effective in the collection―a teen wanders around town in a film beautifully shot and lighted, but, despite numerous viewings, I just don’t see in it what the blurb says is happening.

Libraries collecting in film studies and gay studies should certainly select this DVD, and larger public libraries should also consider.

Reviewed by, Dave Combe
EP Foster Library
Ventura, CA