Farah Popcorn@farah_popcorn

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6 Indonesian films celebrating gay love and identity

Six Indonesian films that make room for gay love, identity and freedom, and honestly the fact that they exist at all is the whole point. Arisan! from 2003 is the one that broke ground first, following Sakti and where things go with Nino against Jakarta's glossy social swirl. The sequel, Arisan! 2 in 2011, brings those characters back with their relationships shifting, and it keeps the humor and friendship and queer life all in the same room. Memories of My Body, also known as Kucumbu Tubuh Indahku, came in 2019 and follows a young dancer figuring out identity and desire and himself, with traditional Lengger dance carrying the body and the freedom of expression. Coklat Stroberi from 2007 goes the rom-com route, young love and friendship and how hard relationships and sexuality are to navigate in Indonesian society. Lovely Man in 2011 is the one that got me: a daughter heads to Jakarta looking for the father she's estranged from and finds out he's a waria, a term tied to a feminine gender identity, and the whole thing sits in family and identity and acceptance. Love for Share, or Berbagi Suami, is from 2006 and looks at polygamy through three women dealing with love and marriage and what society expects, and it's not mainly a gay film but it's still about freedom and the walls traditional relationships put up. LGBTQ+ stories still run into serious resistance in the country, which is exactly why films willing to go at love and self-acceptance and living authentically hit different

1h

Farah Popcorn@farah_popcorn

Follow

6 Indonesian films celebrating gay love and identity

Six Indonesian films that make room for gay love, identity and freedom, and honestly the fact that they exist at all is the whole point. Arisan! from 2003 is the one that broke ground first, following Sakti and where things go with Nino against Jakarta's glossy social swirl. The sequel, Arisan! 2 in 2011, brings those characters back with their relationships shifting, and it keeps the humor and friendship and queer life all in the same room. Memories of My Body, also known as Kucumbu Tubuh Indahku, came in 2019 and follows a young dancer figuring out identity and desire and himself, with traditional Lengger dance carrying the body and the freedom of expression. Coklat Stroberi from 2007 goes the rom-com route, young love and friendship and how hard relationships and sexuality are to navigate in Indonesian society. Lovely Man in 2011 is the one that got me: a daughter heads to Jakarta looking for the father she's estranged from and finds out he's a waria, a term tied to a feminine gender identity, and the whole thing sits in family and identity and acceptance. Love for Share, or Berbagi Suami, is from 2006 and looks at polygamy through three women dealing with love and marriage and what society expects, and it's not mainly a gay film but it's still about freedom and the walls traditional relationships put up. LGBTQ+ stories still run into serious resistance in the country, which is exactly why films willing to go at love and self-acceptance and living authentically hit different

1h