Chinese Independent Cinema Observer Special Issue Call for Papers: Chinese Queer Film Festivals, edited by Jenny Man Wu, Andy Ke Zhu and Hongwei Bao

Featured image Chinese Independent Cinema Observer Special Issue Call for Papers: Chinese Queer Film Festivals, edited by Jenny Man Wu, Andy Ke Zhu and Hongwei Bao

Post Views: 2,483

To address this gap, a special issue of Chinese Independent Cinema Observer maps Chinese queer film festivals and theorises their significance. We ask: How do we understand the development of Chinese queer film festivals amid changing socio-political conditions, infrastructures, and transnational networks? What conceptual tools can we come up with to analyse these festivals beyond identity politics, celebratory narratives, or Western festival models? How do these festivals contribute to the development of queer theory, visual culture, and activist practices?

We welcome contributions from a range of voices—including scholars, curators, filmmakers, and artist-activists—to explore queer film festivals across China and the broader diasporic communities. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

Histories and retrospectives of queer film festivals in and outside China (e.g., China Queer Film Festival Tour, CinemaQ, Hong Kong Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, ShanghaiPRIDE Film Festival, Shanghai Queer Film Festival, Queer East Festival, Queer University, Queers Across the Waves);

Stakeholder configuration: people, institutions and networks involved in creating and sustaining queer film cultures;

Behind-the-scenes practices of festival organising, curating, networking, and training programmes;

Programming of Chinese queer films in mainstream or independent festivals;

Production and exhibition spaces: how queer film festivals encourage and facilitate queer filmmaking and screening;

Archival practices: how queer cinema is preserved, curated, and circulated through personal and institutional archives;

Audience, community, reception, and cultural activism;

Strategies and tactics for navigating censorship and financial constraints;

Online platforms and digital circulation: how media and technologies facilitate the production and circulation of queer films;

Theorisation of Chinese queer films and queer film festivals;

How Chinese queer films generate their own modes of seeing, feeling, storytelling, and critique under specific socio-political and cultural conditions;

Comparative studies of queer film festivals across Asia.

Formats:

Submissions can take various forms, including but not restricted to academic essays, festival reviews, critical reflections, filmmaker interviews, director notes and reflections on creative practice. We encourage authors to explore their unique creative and intellectual styles. Please consult past issues of the journal to get a sense of the diverse range of content we publish. As a bilingual publication, Chinese Independent Cinema Observer accepts submissions written in both Chinese and English. We will publish articles in their original version and in translation.

We accept submissions in the following categories:

Full-length scholarly article

Scholarly articles focusing on a specific topic and featuring original research and clear arguments. No more than 8,000 words in English, or 12,000 words in Chinese, all inclusive. Full scholarly references are required. Please follow the journal’s style guide. Scholarly articles in this category will be peer reviewed.

Critical essays

Critical essays about a festival, a film, a filmmaker/curator, or a specific topic related to Chinese queer films or film festivals. Articles in this category will typically be 1,000-5,000 words long, but there is some flexibility for the word count. References are not essential but encouraged. Articles in this category will be desk reviewed by the journal’s editors.

Festival reports, memoirs, oral history, interviews and miscellaneous

This section features first-hand documentation of Chinese queer festival history. Articles are variable in length. Alternative formats such as creative writing, photographs, artworks, short films and video essays are also considered. References are not essential but encouraged. Articles in this category will be desk reviewed by the journal’s editors.

We hope to offer constructive feedback to accepted submissions and expect contributors to consider and act on the editors’ and reviewers’ feedback to make the article as strong as possible within a limited timeframe.

Style guide:

Please refer to the Chinese Independent Film Archive website for journal style guides and past issues. Overall, we use the Harvard author-date style in English, British spelling and punctuation.https://www.chinaindiefilm.org/submission-guidelines/

Use of AI:

Use of AI is discouraged. Please let us know if you have used any AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT) and if so, in what way, in preparation for your manuscript.

Submission:

We hope to launch this special issue in November 2026. To ensure adequate time for peer reviewing, revision, bilingual translation, copyediting and proofing, please submit your full article by 1 July, 2026.

Submissions and enquiries should be sent to three editors of this issue at chinesequeer@protonmail.com and cifacontact@gmail.com at the same time, with the heading of ‘CICO Special issue submission’.

About the Executive Editors:

Jenny Man Wu is a curator, film producer, theatre-maker, and researcher whose work focuses on Chinese queer cinema, independent moving-image culture, and archival practice. She is the director on duty and committee member of the Beijing Queer Film Festival, while developing cross-regional screenings, panel discussions, and community-based cultural initiatives. A Chevening Scholar, she is also the initiator of The Living Archive of Queer Cinema in Chinese Context and The Unheard Echoes, two ongoing projects dedicated to preserving, organising, and reactivating Chinese queer films and memories at risk of disappearance due to censorship, diaspora, and historical rupture.

Andy Ke Zhu is a PhD candidate in the Department of Media Studies at the University of Amsterdam. His PhD research, as part of the ERC-funded project “RESCUE: Resilient Cultures – Music, Art, and Cinema in Mainland China and Hong Kong,” examines contemporary Chinese queer cinema culture. He has curated and organised queer film programmes and events in Hong Kong, Amsterdam, and Berlin.

Dr Hongwei Bao is Associate Professor in Media Studies at the University of Nottingham, UK. He is the author of Queer Comrades, Queer China, Queer Media in China, Contemporary Chinese Queer Performance, and Queering the Asian Diaspora. He also co-edited Routledge Handbook of Chinese Gender and Sexuality, Contemporary Queer Chinese Art, Queer Literature in the Sinosphere, and Journal of Chinese Cinemas special issue on Queer Chinese Screen (vol. 17, no. 1).

About Chinese Independent Cinema Observer:

Chinese Independent Cinema Observer (CICO) is an open-access, bi-lingual e-journal published on the Chinese Independent Film Archive (CIFA) website and is indexed in the Modern Language Association International Bibliography (MLA) database. We believe that rigid academic publication rules can sometimes limit young scholars’ opportunities to share their insights and also marginalise practitioners, reducing them to mere ‘research subjects’. Furthermore, language barriers and differing academic systems often hinder the exchange of ideas and mutual learning among academic communities. This journal is therefore dedicated to breaking these boundaries by providing a freer, rule-defying space for expression and exchange. We hope to bring bold voices and innovative ideas to the forefront, giving practitioners the opportunity to speak for themselves while also engaging with the analyses about them. At the same time, we strive to empower emerging scholars from diverse cultures by showcasing their work to a broader audience.

To further foster diverse participation and collaborative curation, starting from Issue 7, CICO invites aspiring young scholars to join its editorial team. We warmly welcome proposals for future thematic issues and are committed to supporting individuals or editorial teams in developing ideas and editing journal issues, jointly expanding the scope of inquiry. Proposals should follow the format of the journal’s previous calls for papers and be submitted to the official CIFA email: cifacontact@gmail.com.

Following the founding of the Hong Kong Lesbian and Gay Film Festival in 1989, queer filmfestivals have proliferated in Asia. They played a vital role in promoting queer films andraising LGBTQIA+ visibility across the Chinese–speaking world. At the same time, Chinese–language queer films have travelled widely in the world and circulated within globaldiasporic communities. Queer film festivals provide a critical locus for theorising queerness,cinema, and cultural politics. The Chinese cases, however, remain largely underexaminedcompared with other locations in the global LGBTQIA+ film festival circuit.To address this gap, a special issue of Chinese Independent Cinema Observer maps Chinesequeer film festivals and theorises their significance. We ask: How do we understand thedevelopment of Chinese queer film festivals amid changing socio–political conditions,infrastructures, and transnational networks? What conceptual tools can we come up with toanalyse these festivals beyond identity politics, celebratory narratives, or Western festivalmodels? How do these festivals contribute to the development of queer theory, visual culture,and activist practices?We welcome contributions from a range of voices—including scholars, curators, filmmakers,and artist–activists—to explore queer film festivals across China and the broader diasporiccommunities. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:• Histories and retrospectives of queer film festivals in and outside China (e.g.,China Queer Film Festival Tour, CinemaQ, Hong Kong Lesbian & Gay FilmFestival, ShanghaiPRIDE Film Festival, Shanghai Queer Film Festival, QueerEast Festival, Queer University, Queers Across the Waves);• Stakeholder configuration: people, institutions and networks involved in creatingand sustaining queer film cultures;• Behind–the–scenes practices of festival organising, curating, networking, andtraining programmes;• Programming of Chinese queer films in mainstream or independent festivals;• Production and exhibition spaces: how queer film festivals encourage andfacilitate queer filmmaking and screening;2• Archival practices: how queer cinema is preserved, curated, and circulatedthrough personal and institutional archives;• Audience, community, reception, and cultural activism;• Strategies and tactics for navigating censorship and financial constraints;• Online platforms and digital circulation: how media and technologies facilitate theproduction and circulation of queer films;• Theorisation of Chinese queer films and queer film festivals;• How Chinese queer films generate their own modes of seeing, feeling,storytelling, and critique under specific socio–political and cultural conditions;• Comparative studies of queer film festivals across Asia.Formats:Submissions can take various forms, including but not restricted to academic essays, festivalreviews, critical reflections, filmmaker interviews, director notes and reflections on creativepractice. We encourage authors to explore their unique creative and intellectual styles. Pleaseconsult past issues of the journal to get a sense of the diverse range of content we publish. Asa bilingual publication, Chinese Independent Cinema Observer accepts submissions writtenin both Chinese and English. We will publish articles in their original version and intranslation.We accept submissions in the following categories:Full–length scholarly articleScholarly articles focusing on a specific topic and featuring original research and cleararguments. No more than 8,000 words in English, or 12,000 words in Chinese, all inclusive.Full scholarly references are required. Please follow the journal’s style guide. Scholarlyarticles in this category will be peer reviewed.Critical essaysCritical essays about a festival, a film, a filmmaker/curator, or a specific topic related toChinese queer films or film festivals. Articles in this category will typically be 1,000–5,0003words long, but there is some flexibility for the word count. References are not essential butencouraged. Articles in this category will be desk reviewed by the journal’s editors.Festival reports, memoirs, oral history, interviews and miscellaneousThis section features first–hand documentation of Chinese queer festival history. Articles arevariable in length. Alternative formats such as creative writing, photographs, artworks, shortfilms and video essays are also considered. References are not essential but encouraged.Articles in this category will be desk reviewed by the journal’s editors.We hope to offer constructive feedback to accepted submissions and expect contributors toconsider and act on the editors’ and reviewers’ feedback to make the article as strong aspossible within a limited timeframe.Style guide:Please refer to the Chinese Independent Film Archive website for journal style guides andpast issues. Overall, we use the Harvard author–date style in English, British spelling andpunctuation. https://www.chinaindiefilm.org/submission–guidelines/Use of AI:Use of AI is discouraged. Please let us know if you have used any AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT)and if so, in what way, in preparation for your manuscript.Submission:We hope to launch this special issue in November 2026. To ensure adequate time for peerreviewing, revision, bilingual translation, copyediting and proofing, please submit your fullarticle by 1 July, 2026.Submissions and enquiries should be sent to three editors of this issue atchinesequeer@protonmail.com and cifacontact@gmail.com at the same time, with theheading of ‘CICO Special issue submission’.4About the Executive Editors:Jenny Man Wu is a curator, film producer, theatre–maker, and researcher whose workfocuses on Chinese queer cinema, independent moving–image culture, and archival practice.She is the director on duty and committee member of the Beijing Queer Film Festival, whiledeveloping cross–regional screenings, panel discussions, and community–based culturalinitiatives. A Chevening Scholar, she is also the initiator of The Living Archive of QueerCinema in Chinese Context and The Unheard Echoes, two ongoing projects dedicated topreserving, organising, and reactivating Chinese queer films and memories at risk ofdisappearance due to censorship, diaspora, and historical rupture.Andy Ke Zhu is a PhD candidate in the Department of Media Studies at the University ofAmsterdam. His PhD research, as part of the ERC–funded project “RESCUE: ResilientCultures – Music, Art, and Cinema in Mainland China and Hong Kong,” examinescontemporary Chinese queer cinema culture. He has curated and organised queer filmprogrammes and events in Hong Kong, Amsterdam, and Berlin.Dr Hongwei Bao is Associate Professor in Media Studies at the University of Nottingham,UK. He is the author of Queer Comrades, Queer China, Queer Media in China,Contemporary Chinese Queer Performance, and Queering the Asian Diaspora. He also co–edited Routledge Handbook of Chinese Gender and Sexuality, Contemporary Queer ChineseArt, Queer Literature in the Sinosphere, and Journal of Chinese Cinemas special issue onQueer Chinese Screen (vol. 17, no. 1).About Chinese Independent Cinema Observer:Chinese Independent Cinema Observer (CICO) is an open–access, bi–lingual e–journalpublished on the Chinese Independent Film Archive (CIFA) website and is indexed in theModern Language Association International Bibliography (MLA) database. We believe thatrigid academic publication rules can sometimes limit young scholars’ opportunities to sharetheir insights and also marginalise practitioners, reducing them to mere ‘research subjects’.Furthermore, language barriers and differing academic systems often hinder the exchange ofideas and mutual learning among academic communities. This journal is therefore dedicatedto breaking these boundaries by providing a freer, rule–defying space for expression and5exchange. We hope to bring bold voices and innovative ideas to the forefront, givingpractitioners the opportunity to speak for themselves while also engaging with the analysesabout them. At the same time, we strive to empower emerging scholars from diverse culturesby showcasing their work to a broader audience.To further foster diverse participation and collaborative curation, starting from Issue 7, CICOinvites aspiring young scholars to join its editorial team. We warmly welcome proposals forfuture thematic issues and are committed to supporting individuals or editorial teams indeveloping ideas and editing journal issues, jointly expanding the scope of inquiry. Proposalsshould follow the format of the journal’s previous calls for papers and be submitted to the

Chinese Independent Cinema Observer Special Issue Call for Papers: Chinese Queer Film Festivals, edited by Jenny Man Wu, Andy Ke Zhu and Hongwei Bao

Tags