THE WIDE shot onscreen shows a young boy being scolded by his mother for putting on makeup. The child confesses that he is gay, his mother grows furious, the light goes out, and only thunder and raindrops are heard.

“I’m gay. The moment I told my mom, she didn’t take it well. This (the film) is a hyperbolic representation of what really happened that day. Nawalan ako ng ilaw ng tahanan (I lost the light of the home [mother]),” said Ralph Lauren Quincena, the director of the Pink Shorts Manila film entry Ma?, about the film at the festival’s press launch on Feb. 8.

“We know homophobia as being afraid of homosexuals, but most people don’t know [that] homophobia also arouses hostile aggression towards homosexuals.”

Part of the ongoing Manila Biennale at Intramuros, Manila, the Pink Shorts Manila will showcase stories, told on film and plays, centering on the struggles and experiences of the LGBT community.

Founded in 2002 by Mark Cleary in Sydney, Australia, Short + Sweet International is a multi-arts platform organization aiming to spread knowledge and awareness on a variety of topics. Short + Sweet Pink Shorts is the LGBT component of Short + Sweet which aims to raise awareness about the lives of the LBGT community.

“For the selection of the play[s] and film[s], we really wanted it to have an LGBT story that really gives voice and highlights the lives, struggles, and aspirations of the LGBT, not just having LGBT characters,” said Pink Shorts Manila festival director Rhadem Camlian Morados about the entry selection process.

Pink Shorts Manila will run on Feb. 24 to 25, 7:30 p.m., at the Teatrillo in Casa Manila, Intramuros, and will showcase six 10-minute films and plays.

The films include Ralph Lauren Quincena’s Ma?, Adeline Clemente’s TRANSParent, Cha Roque’s What I Would Have Told My Daughter If I Knew What to Say Back Then, Gilb Baldoza’s Nandito Naman Tayo Para sa Isa’t Isa, ’di Ba?, Chloe Veloso’s Ang Gugmang Ti-unay ni Daniella, and Carl Adrian Chavez’s Sorry for the Inconvenience. The plays are Friends Lang Po, written and directed by Steve Banua Sanchez; It Doesn’t, written and directed by John Jerome Mangoya; That Night with Rose and Tracy, written by Mark Bacolod; Valedictorian, written by Maynard Manansala and directed by Ron Binas; Oh Yes Gameshow, written by Bunny Cadag and directed by BJ Ocampo; and, Ledge of Reality, written by Mark Cleary and directed by Howard Yambao.

“As an advocate of LGBT rights from Mindanao, this is a monumental effort in benefit to our long cause, and that is to provide a platform for the untold stories of LGBT struggles and aspirations,” Mr. Morados was quoted as saying in a press release.

The program includes performances and an art exhibition by local LGBT artists and will conclude with an afterparty hosted by Jungle Circuit Party. Tickets are P600 (regular price) and P500 (for students and senior citizens).

For more information, visit www.facebook.com/PinkShortsMNL/. For tickets, visit www.tickettailor.com/all-tickets/30763/7d84/. — Michelle Anne P. Soliman

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