Inside the Chinese Closet

Friday, June 17, 2016

Screening followed by discussion with filmmaker Sophia Luvara

In a nondescript lounge somewhere in Shanghai, men and women giggle, eyeing prospective partners, visibly nervous about making the first move. This isn’t your average matchmaking event-it’s a “fake-marriage fair” where gay men and lesbian women meet in an attempt to make matrimonial deals with members of the opposite sex to satisfy social and familial expectations of a heterosexual marriage. And pretend marriages are just the start. Touching and troubling in equal measure, Inside the Chinese Closet exposes the difficult decisions young LGBT individuals must make when forced to balance their quest for love with parental and cultural expectations.

“Amazing in its depiction of how LGBT thirty somethings-living in slick metropolises, armed with iPhones-are still suffocated by traditional expectations that they will marry and have kids, and the lengths they go to fulfill those expectations.”- Sophie Richardson, China director, Asia Division

• Country Netherlands/China
• Language English and Mandarin with English subtitles
• Year 2015
• Running Time 70 minutes
• Director Sophia Luvara

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.