MONEYBOYS
DIRECTOR: C. B. YI
120 minutes. Austria, France, Taiwan, Belgium. 2021. Language: Mandarin. Subtitled. Colour.
Official Selection Un Certain Regard, Cannes Film Festival 2021; BFI Flare London LGBTQIA Film Festival 2022
The screening will be introduced by actor and writer Mark O’Halloran
Austrian-Chinese director/screenwriter C. B. Yi’s inspiring and vibrant drama of gay life in China (shot in Taiwan), Moneyboys follow Fei (Kai Ko), a young man from the countryside who migrates to the big city to make a living as a moneyboy – a gay male escort – sending money home to support his family. There he meets moneyboy Xiaolai (J. C. Lin) and the two begin a relationship.
Yi takes us along on Fei’s journey as he struggles to let go of the past and must face money and moral pressures, the repercussions of selling his body, working in the sex trade, and ‘being exposed’. He must learn how to handle all of this socially, and in personal and familial contexts. How do you sacrifice yourself and keep what you do secret for the benefit of your family? How can this bring happiness in your life?
Formally and poetically striking visuals, delicately composed long plan sequences, and choreographed scenes with sparse dialogue (Yi studied under the guidance of Michael Haneke at the Vienna Film Academy), all subtly infuse the emotions and feelings developing between people in this intoxicating first feature by C. B. Yi.
MARIE-PIERRE RICHARD
‘Moneyboys is an existential, queer and at the same time universal film about love.’
Max Ophüls Preis Film Festival
