LGBTQ+ History Month: The creators behind ‘Safe Distance’ on visualising the intersection of queer and Chinese experiences
- Written byAnnika Loebig
- Published date 17 February 2023
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Amidst the challenges Covid-19 posed for creatives, it also proved to be fertile ground for community organising and creative collaboration for social change.
LGBTQ+ rights activist and filmmaker Jamie Chi, BA Animation graduate Ying Zeng (Zing) and MA Television graduate, Qianlin (Bling) Wang connected through a shared interest in queer history and social justice. At a time when anti-Asian racism was soaring during Covid-19, they got together with other creatives to produce ‘Safe Distance’: a documentary and photography exhibition exploring the lives of 31 queer Chinese individuals in the UK under Covid-19.
We caught up with them for LGBTQ+ History Month to reflect on their project, how the moving image can make meaningful contributions to LGBTQ+ activism and what change they’d like to see in the creative industries:
Hi all! Thank you for reuniting for LGBTQ+ History Month to reflect on the important work you do. Starting off, I wanted to ask: What do you think is the role of photography and film in LGBTQ+ movements?
Bling: We now live in an age of screen upbringing, where the visual image is inundating people's lives. However, LGBTQ+ visibility takes up a small corner; LGBTQ+ content is even illegal in many countries. That makes queer themes in photography and film production very difficult, and the output of work becomes scarce in the world.
Without LGBTQ+ visibility in the media, sexual minorities will live underground, and no one will care about their rights. We need LGBTQ+ media to raise awareness. There is currently not enough of it on the market, which is why the role of photography and film in LGBTQ+ movements is playing an increasingly important function.
Jamie: I feel like it’s a very powerful medium: When I produced ‘Safe Distance’, we also interviewed some people from the Gay Liberation Front to understand what they went through. 50 years ago, they would have had people smashing their windows; seeing how far they’ve come now gives hope to activism today.
Right now, for activism and LGBTQ+ History in China or Asia overall, it’s not really going that well. In fact, it’s gotten worse. Last year, there was even a crackdown on online spaces, so people couldn’t even find a platform there. Sometimes, films can give people access, like they did for myself growing up, to queer references and role models. It gives you hope that there are possibilities for a better future.
Sometimes you can also find an online community or meetups for things like film screenings, which is more likely to be a safe space and great way to meet people who can support each other. Film can in that sense be an important medium to bring communities together.
What was it like producing 'Safe Distance'? In what ways was it meaningful for you to be a part of this?
Zing: It was a wonderful experience. The communication between me and Jamie was always smooth and effective. With her trust and support, I was free to do whatever I wanted and that’s why I was able to apply some experimental practice in this film, like creating textures and patterns with oil and thermal paper.
This approach was inspired by a paper receipt that was left on the kitchen table by one of my flat mates. It was stained with cooking oil and later accidentally burned by the bottom of a hot pan. This happened under lockdown when we had to stay at home; me and my flat mates often joked that our only entertainment was to go for groceries. I find it interesting to use the paper receipt as a metaphor for the 2020 pandemic and the gesture of burning is also symbolic for the warmth of love, as well as hurt, during this time.
It was no doubt a chaotic year for everyone, but particularly Chinese people, as racism and physical attacks increased during Covid-19. When the opportunity to become part of the ‘Safe Distance’ project came up, I reached out without a second thought, because I felt the need to support the community.
Bling: ‘Safe Distance’ is a genuine record of the reality of Chinese queer life in Britain, of which there is so little documentation. It’s significant to have a visual record of the lives of Chinese queer people in British-Chinese history, especially as the community faced unprecedented discrimination and oppression in Western countries during the outbreak of Covid-19. The intersection of queer and Chinese identity makes them more vulnerable to being attacked.
‘Safe Distance’ is a rebellious artwork against discrimination. We will not let our injustice fade away with time. Instead, we made it into a piece of art to show and discuss with our community members how we can better improve our situation. When I photographed ‘Safe Distance’, I knew we were doing something that made a positive difference for our community. I am proud to be part of the production team.
Jamie: It was a very nice experiment. I don't know much about animation, so when I worked with Zing, we would have one call a week and she would bring up a lot of different ideas that she had and ways of experimenting with different textures and styles. We just kept talking to each other and that made me experiment as well. We both learned from each other.
We also ended up having some more UAL classmates of her join, so that in the end, we had around 6 animators working on this animation relating to a virus and the parallels between stigmatisation towards the LGBTQ+ community during the AIDS crisis and Covid-19.
Zing: I also have to mention Jinying Li, a sound artist who contributed significantly to my animation. We worked very closely on the opening animation for the ‘Safe Distance’ film, and he was the one who came up with the title ‘TATA’. In Chinese, there is no difference in pronouncing ‘she’ or ‘heh. Instead, the personal pronouns are both pronounced ‘ta’, the boundary of genders is hence blurred. ‘Ta Ta’ in the animation does not just make up the musical beats, but also implies the relationship between genders and communities.
What positive change for LGBTQ+ people are you hoping to see in the creative industries?
Zing: I believe true equality in the creative industries is when artists’ creativity can be recognised without needing to pay attention to gender, sexuality or any other forms of identity.
One day I’d like to see that LGBTQ+ no longer needs to be a label or special category in film festivals, events and exhibitions, when there is no need to name a film festival ‘queer festival’, a film session ‘queer films’, title an artist ‘the queer artist’ — when everyone is just everyone.
Bling: I hope that queer artists do not give up creating and continually produce more works. I also wish that more and more of the arts would focus on the LGBTQ+ movement. There is still a long way to go to achieve LGBTQ+ rights around the world. Finally, I hope that more people will be concerned about diversity and have empathy for minorities, so that our world can become a better place.
Jamie: It’s quite hard to get into these [creative] spaces sometimes. It’s why with this project, it was a way of creating our own space somehow. I struggle with pitching my projects sometimes because LGBTQ+ topics are not really a priority. That’s why we were self-funded: I was using my own time and money and our team was promoting it as an independent production. I hope there’ll be more resources for that, but at the moment, you have to really come together as a community to join forces and claim your space until somebody notices you to give you a chance.
Do you have any historical figures – or people making history now! – from the LGBTQ+ community that inspire you and your work?
Zing: I can’t recall anyone from the LGBTQ+ community, but my creative thinking is deeply influenced by Valie Export, a feminist film artist who applies multiple forms of media, such as photography, body performance and film, in her works and her strong and symbolic visuals often critique the social status, objectification and materialisation of women.
Bling: That must be my wife, Qiuyan Chen, who is also the producer of ‘Safe Distance’. An LGBTQ+ activist, she was the first person to pursue lawsuits against the Chinese Ministry of Education over the equal right to education for LGBTQ+ students. She has been advocating for LGBTQ+ rights in China for many years and after relocating to the UK, remained active in social movements.
She founded Queer China UK, a community organisation that aims to be a home for the Chinese LGBTQ+ diaspora and allies. Persistence is not an easy task. As a transnational Chinese working-class lesbian, she struggles to support herself, while continuing to stand up for LGBTQ+ rights at home and abroad.
Changes are made by ordinary people who care about the LGBTQ+ movement, and this is the history they are making now. Change does not happen for no reason. It happens only when people push for it. I can see the bravery and strength in my wife, and she inspires me to work for the LGBTQ+ movement. Even though I am just an ordinary person like others, I believe every small move will ultimately make a meaningful difference.
Jamie: The person I was going to shout out is also Quiyan Chen! In China, there are still some that say being LGBTQ+ is a mental illness - that kind of discourse - and she challenged that. Seeing someone with that courage, when you're still just a university student, keeps me going – even though the lawsuit has been going on for 6 years and they still haven't won any case. But those actions build up momentum, change attitudes and hopefully create some behavioural change. After all, there's an impact from those actions.
'Safe Distance' teaser, 2021 | Videography, direction and animation: Jamie Chi, Ying Zeng (Zing), Qianlin (Bling) Wang
