ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses a brief history of queer cinema in the People’s Republic of China in the post-Mao era. It suggests that queer films do not simply represent Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer identities; they also construct non-heteronormative identities, belongings and communities. The lived experiences of sexual minorities remained at the margin of all political and artistic concerns: they were represented but they could not really speak for themselves. While queer representations in China increasingly feature young, urban, cosmopolitan and middle-class subjects, it is well worth going back to the transgender representations to be reminded of the political economy of being queer. Cui Zi’en’s experimental aesthetics reflects his Leftist political stance: his innovations in cinematic style aim to deconstruct traditions in filmmaking in the same way as “demolishing the temple” and “changing blood”, largely due to the cinema’s close relationship with capital.
