Straitlaced optometrist Weichung is finding the typical married life difficult, as his wife, Feng, unfulfilled by her white‐walled office job and spurred on by her mother, pushes him for a second child. Then he bumps into an old friend from his gay past, setting off an unexpected array of dormant emotions. Meanwhile, his sister Mandy flees her sad sack fiancé San‐San, coping via comfort food and the fantastical appearance of a soap opera star on her couch. Arvin Chen’s sophomore feature is a fresh and playful comedy about the brave fronts put forward in the search for a satisfying family life and job. Whimsy is never far from this story, both through the appropriately sappy soundtrack and several dream‐like touches: not just a soap opera star, but one character whose retirement is symbolized by his magical floating away on an umbrella and a breakout karaoke sequence reinforced by the title Shirelles song. Outstanding performances by Richie Ren and singer Mavis Fan as the central married couple help Chen find a true emotional core, especially in the heartrending moment when Feng realizes the truth about her husband’s dalliances, inspiring a charming look at what happens in a traditional society when you seek a big change.

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For Chinese parents, finding out that their kid is gay usually presents a major tragedy, with the big majority utterly unable to accept the homosexuality of their son or daughter. However, during recent years a fresh rainbow wind has been blowing over the Chinese mainland: a pioneer generation of Chinese parents has been stepping up and speaking out on their love for their gay kids. This documentary features 6 mothers from all over China, who talk openly and freely about their experiences with their gay and lesbian children. With their love, they are giving a whole new definition to Chinese‐ style family bonds. NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE.

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17 year old Mike has always been kind of a outcast, never quite on time, never knowing quite the right thing to say. He’s doing his best just to survive high school. But all that changes when a new kid arrives in his class, William. And when the two of them are immediately thrust together to complete an English class assignment, Mike sees his chance to become closer to the quiet, enigmatic Will. As the two spend more time together under the auspices of making a ‘monster movie’ version of Romeo & Juliet, they begin to realise that their feelings towards one another may be more powerful than they’d anticipated. But like the two main characters in the greatest love story ever told, Mike and Will seem pre‐destined to be kept apart, by their respective dysfunctional families, by their classmates, and by their own sexual confusion. Can their love overcome all obstacles? Or, like the Shakespearian monsters that inhabit their school project, are they fated to spend their existence haunted and alone? A coming‐out and coming‐of‐age drama firmly set in the 1990’s, MONSTER PIES is a snapshot in time, a moving teen romance unafraid to tackle the contradictions and complexities of the male adolescent heart and mind. NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

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