Screening Queerness: Cinema, Censorship, and Cultural Advocacy

In this session, we invited film practitioners with experience in directing, producing, and working in various movie departments, such as lighting. Moderated by Bonnibel Rambatan, with Sinta Wibowo as the discussant, speakers Ineza Roussille, Atikah Zainidi, Htet Aung Lwyn, and Hong Anh explored queering the film industry by highlighting the precarious working conditions they often face.

This discussion touched on several issues surrounding queer film production, particularly the challenges posed by dominant industry norms and funding structures. The mainstream film industry often presents its production model as the only viable approach, dismissing alternative, community-driven, or collective filmmaking methods as unprofessional. However, these alternative approaches have long existed and offer ways to expand representation beyond conventional narratives. Queering filmmaking means reimagining production beyond rigid structures, allowing for more inclusive and collaborative storytelling.

A major challenge for queer filmmakers is securing funding, as many funders prioritize narratives of suffering over joy or complexity. Some filmmakers navigate this by strategically presenting funder-friendly proposals while ultimately making the films they truly want. This process can be exhausting, requiring constant negotiation to justify creative choices that deviate from expected narratives. Funders also tend to adopt inclusive language without fully understanding the depth of representation needed, making it difficult for filmmakers to maintain artistic freedom without compromising their vision.

Moving forward, there is a pressing need for collective strategies to sustain queer film production while resisting restrictive industry norms. Mutual aid and friendship-based production models can redistribute resources and labor more equitably, offering a form of reparations within filmmaking. To support this shift, continued conversations in both formal and casual spaces are essential.

This roundtable series, a collaboration between the ASEAN SOGIE Caucus (ASC)’s Southeast Asia Queer Cultural Festival (SEAQCF) and New Naratif, took place from 3-7 March 2025, offering an online space for queer artists, cultural workers, and community organizers across Southeast Asia to connect, share practices, and discuss common challenges.

Artist

Atikah Zainidi

Brunei Darussalam

Atikah is a Brunei-born, Paris-raised Director/Producer/Gaffer based in Singapore. Her documentary work embodies a passion for questioning the everyday rules of the patriarchal, colonialist and elitist system. Her strong beliefs in equality, intersectionality and decolonisation have allowed her to produce provocative visual pieces that have been featured on VICE, BRICKS, OUTRAGE.

With a degree in Film and Television and a Masters in Documentary film from University of the arts London, she has since worked for VICE Indonesia, Gojek, Discovery Channel and HOOQ as well as on set as part of the lighting department for Netflix, BBC, Burberry and more.

Artist

Ineza Roussille

Malaysia

Ineza Roussille is a filmmaker based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and a co-founder of Srikandi Seni, a creative outfit that focuses on uplifting marginalized communities through the arts, events and media. A majority of Ineza’s work has been documentaries focusing on highlighting social issues including on LGBTQ, Women and Children’s rights. This has involved working with groups like UNICEF, the Joint Action Group on Gender Equality (JAG) and SEED Malaysia. She believes marginalized communities in Malaysia deserve to be heard and aims to enhance their voices in whatever way she can.

Ineza is also the co-founder of Songsang Studios, a participatory filmmaking program for the LGBTQ community in Malaysia to build capacity for the community to create content that positively reflects their lives.

In 2019, Ineza co-Produced and Directed M for Malaysia, her first feature documentary that went on to screen at film festivals all over the world including CAAMfest in the US, DocEdge in New Zealand, and Busan International Film Festival, South Korea. M for Malaysia also had a theatrical release in Malaysia and was Malaysia’s official entry for the 2020 Academy Awards for Best International Film.

Since M for Malaysia, Ineza has broadened her scope of work to include directing and producing a number of short films, music videos and video art. She is currently producing her first feature film entitled Karpet.

Artist

Htet Aung Lwyn

Myanmar

Htet Aung Lwyn is a visual storyteller currently based in Bangkok. As a Burmese artist, they explore themes of identity and culture through hyper-realistic works that reflect their personal experiences and societal observations.

Htet's art delves into the complexities of gender and sexuality, aiming to create narratives that resonate deeply with audiences and provide the representation they craved during their own upbringing.

Artist

Hồng Anh Nguyễn

Vietnam/Germany

Hồng Anh Nguyễn is a queer German-Vietnamese screenwriter, director, and editor based in Frankfurt am Main and Hà Nội. Her short film SAIGON KISS premiered at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, earning a Queer Jury Special Mention and the Jury Award for Best Short Film at Chéries-Chéris Paris. She has directed documentaries for EST Eastern Standard Times, amplifying the voices of modern Vietnamese women. Supported by the British Council Vietnam, Goethe-Institut, and Asia-Europe Foundation, she is also a STEP writers' stipend recipient from Hessen Film & Media and a Kyoto Filmmakers Lab fellow.

DIRECTING FILMOGRAPHY

2024 Saigon Kiss - Short Film - 22mins. - Turnabout Entertainment/Lagi Production

2023 GAP | GẶP - Dance Film - 7mins. - British Council

2023 Across The Border - Documentary - 10mins. - EST Media

2022 Vietnam’s All-Female Demining Team - Documentary - 7mins. - EST Media

2022 Vietnam’s 1st Female Stunt Coordinator - Documentary - 10mins. - EST Media

2017 Amber Blue - Short Film - 9mins. - Round Frames Production

Artist

Sinta Wibowo

Indonesia/Cambodia/Belgium

Sinta Wibowo works between Europe, South-East Asia, and occasionally other regions. With a background in economics and marketing, she collaborates with festivals and art institutions across performing arts, film, visual arts, and music to connect people from diverse backgrounds. Her work focuses on creating spaces of trust through festivals, where openness and curiosity between "strangers" and art can emerge. As a cultural strategist and advisor, Sinta values experimentation in research and aims to foster collaborations, partnerships, and intersectional practices by challenging conventions. Key moments in her career include the Sideways Walking Arts Festival, which inspired projects like [re-enacting memories] and [watch & wa/onder] with artist TAN Vatey, exploring "consensual art" and "social remediation."

Artist

Bonnibel Rambatan

Indonesia

Bonnibel Rambatan is a transfeminine nonbinary writer and artist passionate about finding new possibilities for solidarity and liberation. They currently serve as Head of Product at New Naratif, a movement for democracy in Southeast Asia, and Director of Arts and Creative Expression at Rainbow Panda, a community for the welfare of queer and trans children in Asia.