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Journey With You (Chinese Series)

By Golu
I've always had kind of a love hate relationship with Chinese historical BLs. Some are genuinely excellent, but then there are others that cram in so much plot that keeping track of all the layers of betrayal and scheming gets exhausting, and I end up checking out mentally. Part of the issue is also just how much content is out there in this space, so something really has to stand out to keep me hooked. In this case, the production value is genuinely impressive, top tier stuff, but story wise, I just couldn't bring myself to actually care about these characters. There's a ton of political scheming and backstage manipulation running throughout. Somewhere in the middle of all that chaos, a hostage ends up falling for his own Prince Charming. The show runs eight episodes, each around 50 to 60 minutes long. After spending three years guarding the border, Fifth Prince Yin Qi gets called back to the capital because of a secret letter, only to end up walking straight into a deadly...
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Chuppan Chupai (Urdu Documentary) [Hide and Seek]

By Golu
This very interesting documentary is about a group of Pakistani sexual minorities, raising questions about transgender activism, religion, underground gay life, social acceptance and collective familial customs of transgender women in urban Pakistan. The film features four individuals and focuses on their internal conflicts and their constant play of 'hide and seek' from the mainstream population in the urban areas of Pakistan. The film presents the experiences, the interior conflicts, the rights they are denied, the distress and, above all, the impossibility of loving in a country deeply influenced by Islam.

The film starts with Neeli, an aging transgender, who has fully immersed herself in activism. She had an important role in the decision by the Supreme Court to legalize the “third gender”. We meet her, her friends, how the birthdays are something she and her group looks forward to and the struggles she faces. We then meet. Jenny is a transgender university student, who has recently been castrated. Kami is a cross dresser, a practice adopted by both transvestites and homosexual people who want to be accepted. Kami decides to live together with her macho boyfriend. And then we meet an effeminate man, living in village who shares his stories of sexual abuse as a child by his uncle and how it continued over the years and how he is trying to control his sexual urges towards men otherwise how will he get married.

The 4 personal stories offers varying degrees of the queer experiences in this country. What was incredibly was the, strength shown to persevere and push forward. The contradiction between the Islamic and traditional societal believe against the queerness of all characters was certainly touched on but was incredibly heartbreaking. LGBT rights in Pakistan are non-existent – and so there is no official LGBT community as such. The only somewhat tolerated group within sexual minorities, are the large transgender community who seem to form close bonds of familial ties to fight oppression and continue to smile through their tears. I have to say that all four subjects in the documentary were the real stars. They had charisma to hold themselves in front of camera, they were natural and unabashedly shared their stories. They all had haunting true sadness. One of the better and engaging documentaries that I have seen of late. (6.5/10)
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