今年,是我与北京酷儿影展一起打游击战的第十个年头,却是第一次也可能是最后一次有机会为影展的开幕撰写致辞。
回首过去我发现,酷儿影展的发展几乎主宰了我这10年来的人生轨迹:是它影响我选择了某种“非主流”的职业状态;是它带我第一次走出国门;当它因为重重政治社会压力而陷入困境的时候,我决定去海外,到酷儿影展这一西方舶来品的原产地去寻求答案;当我发现,我所学到的看到的并不能解决当初促使我来到那里的困惑时,我又带着这种比较之后的反思回到了我曾经离开的地方。
多年来我一直在思考一个不断来自外界的问题:作为一个非同性恋者,或者说一个直同志,你为何要倾注如此大的精力在一个基于同性恋社群的电影节上? 的确,从最初的“无知者无畏”,到今天我仍然处在一个不断重新发现、审视和释放自己的过程。但是,作为“酷儿”这样一个非主流社会群体当中的“非主流”,我的立场只能代表我自己。
我一直相信,生物的多样性是美好的,值得尊重的。心灵上的自由是至高无上的,是值得人们一生去追求的。歧视来自于无知,不了解或缺乏了解导致误解,从而导致歧视。我所理解的酷儿电影节是一个不带有色眼镜的平台,一个自由表达、展示、交流和自我审视的空间,而不是一群“社会边缘人”在黑暗中狂欢的舞场。每部影片、每个导演、每位观众,包括组织电影节的我们每个人也都有自己的立场,而电影节唯一的立场就是让每一个参与其中的人都可以自由地表达自己的立场。它存在的意义不仅仅是为了酷儿群体,更是为了整个社会。因为有时候,我们看不清楚自己,需要在投射到他人身上的影子里寻找自己;而有时候,我们也活得过于压抑,殊不知在解放了他人的同时也解放了我们自己。
虽然这是基于性少数派社群的一个主题文化活动,但生存在北京这个全国的政治和文化中心,在周围一片红色意识形态的环境下探讨自由与多元化的人际关系与生活方式,酷儿影展的政治色彩无可避免。十年来,在各级官方的干预下,影展从北京城的西边搬到东边,从城市搬到乡村,现在终于又回到城市里。我曾经希望自己能够把影展做到一个可以常规举办而不再需要临时打游击战的正常状态。然而就在不久之前,影展再次遭遇来自场地合作机构出于政治敏感上的考量而最终拒绝与影展合作的波折,我才惊觉:一直以来我们都简单地把警察和官方“妖魔化”成了我们的假想敌。而我们最大的敌人,其实是这些少数人的权力机构通过强大的国家机器宣教而长期潜移默化建构起来的大众主流意识形态。而质疑、对抗这种“主流”意识形态,不也正是酷儿影展存在的价值和追求的目标么?
不管怎样,北京酷儿影展历经诸多波折,熬到了第十个年头,是值得所有人骄傲庆祝和理性反思的一届。在此谨代表北京酷儿影展组委会感谢所有关注过它、帮助过它、甚至也误解、伤害过它的人们。是你们成就了它的每一步成长。
革命尚未成功,酷儿仍需努力。
杨洋
2011年6月
This is the 10th year of the guerilla journey I’ve travelled together with the Beijing Queer Film Festival, but it’s the first time – and maybe even the last time – that I write the preface to the festival.
When I look back on the past 10 years, I realize that the Beijing Queer Film Festival has played a major role in my personal life. The Festival influenced me to adopt a non-mainstream approach in choosing a profession. It also made me leave China for the first time – after the festival was cornered by severe governmental and social pressures, I decided to go abroad to find answers in the Western birth-places of queer film festivals. And when I found out that what I learned and saw abroad couldn’t solve the problems that had urged me to leave Beijing, I came back, carrying a whole new set of thoughts and experiences.
During all these years, I’ve been pondering a question that people ask me at every edition of the Beijing Queer Film Festival: why am I as a heterosexual person, or a “straight queer person”, pouring so much energy into a film festival that originated within the gay community?
From the initial festival stage, when we all were fearlessly ignorant, up until today, I’ve gone through a process of constant self-exploration, self-examination and liberation. Yes, it’s true that I don’t belong to the mainstream of this non-mainstream queer community. I can’t talk for anybody in the queer community but myself and my viewpoint is completely my own. I think that’s a good thing.
I always believed that bio-diversity is a beautiful thing which needs to be respected, that intellectual and mental freedom is paramount and worth striving for, and that discrimination originates in ignorance and misunderstanding. In my opinion, a queer film festival is not an event only open to “marginal people” who come to escape the darkness of mainstream society. A queer film festival is a platform void of prejudice, a place where people can freely express, show, explore themselves and where they can enter in meaningful exchanges. Every film, every director, every audience member, every member of the festival organization committee has their own viewpoint. The only thing the film festival stands for is that it everybody who participates can freely voice their opinion. It has a large significance not only for the queer community, but for the whole of society, because sometimes we all can’t see ourselves clearly, sometimes we all need to explore the influence we have on others to understand ourselves, sometimes we’re all living oppressed lives and we hardly realize that we can free ourselves through freeing others.
Although this is a cultural event which originated within the sexual minority community, it’s hard to overlook the political connotations of the queer film festival. The festival lives in Beijing, the political and cultural center of China – it explores freedom and plurality in human relations and life-styles amidst a red climate drenched in communist ideology. During the past 10 years, governments of all levels have interfered and have forced the festival to move from West Beijing to East Beijing and from the city centre to the countryside. This year, we finally return to the city centre. I once hoped to organize the festival under normal conditions and to take a break from the guerilla-organizing style which has characterized all past 4 festival editions. Yet when one of our screening locations made a sudden decision to stop collaborating with the film festival because of political reasons a little while ago, I had a realization: we always decided to demonize the police and the government, making them our token enemy. Yet our biggest enemy consists of a small number of authoritative organizations that are using the powerful national propaganda machine to subtly construct mainstream ideology. And our biggest worth, our ultimate goal as a queer film festival is to challenge and oppose this mainstream ideology.
No matter how you look at it, the Beijing Queer Film Festival has managed to steer a clear course amidst the rapids of Chinese society, surviving for 10 years. It’s more than reason enough for a proud celebration and a 5th edition which rethinks the rational. I hereby represent the Beijing Queer Film Festival Organization Committee in sincerely thanking all of the people who have paid attention to the festival, who have helped the festival, and even those who have misunderstood and harmed the festival – thanks to you, the festival has matured into its present state.
The revolution hasn’t succeeded yet. Queers, keep up the good work!
Yangyang
June 2011
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