Asian Queers Reunited

Presented by CiLENS e.V., co-curated with the Beijing Queer Film Festival and Queer EastLaunched in 2024, Asian Queers Reunited (AQR) is a Berlin-based cross-disciplinary initiative connecting audiences with queer narratives from Asia and its diaspora. Through cinema and community encounters, AQR presents the embodied experiences of Asian queers and explores the intersecting dimensions of identity, desire, intimacy, and resistance.

AQR 2025 dives into the evolving landscapes of queer life through films that traverse diasporic longing, erotic expression, chosen families, spiritual dissonance, and intergenerational dialogue — anchored in both personal intimacy and collective resistance.Over four days, we will present three open-air short film programs, three documentary screenings, interactive community events and talks. Join us in this shared journey of emotional resonance, embodied presence, and the reimagination of queer futures.

Echo Xuedan TANG is a Berlin-based film curator and cultural producer from Chengdu, China. She founded CiLENS and Indie Chinese Cinema Week (ICCW) in 2022 as platforms for intercultural dialogue through contemporary Sinophone cinema, shaped by inclusive, intersectional and socially engaged perspectives.

Curatorial support: 

Kailyn Kexin XU is a New York-based media and film student from Shanghai, China. Her passion lies in crafting complex narratives that explore themes of identity, relationships, and cultural dynamics from a cross-cultural feminist perspective. 

Jane Zhenyi WEI is a London-based sociologically trained film programmer, whose curatorial practice explores the intersection of humanities and art, with a particular ethnographic focus on marginal cultures in Asian cinema. 

Queer East is a UK-based festival that showcases boundary-pushing LGBTQ+ cinema, live arts, and moving image work from East and Southeast Asia and its diaspora communities.

Beijing Queer Film Festival is currently the only film festival in mainland China to offer a public forum to films and discussions exploring sexuality and gender identities,  providing a voice to the queer minority in China.

AQR 2025 is funded by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion