Can You Promise Me One Thing?
Director：Bernd Chen
Screenwriter：Bernd Chen
Cast：Te-Gao Hong, Ryan Feng
Producer：Tzu Yuan Wang
Cinematographer： Tz Yang Wei
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Language：Mandarin Chinese
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SYNOPSIS
Gay men Gu and Chang meet on a dating app, and head to a hotel for a hookup. The two strangers start with some small talk to break the ice, but Gu seems anxious, prompting Chang to ease him into the mood. As their conversation progresses, Chang discovers that Gu is hiding a secret.
Director Biography
A film critic specializing short films, industry analysis, Taiwanese culture and queer culture. His critic explores gender possibilities within the text of films and has interviewed over 50 Taiwanese filmmakers so far. Chen is currently the director of Taiwan Film Critics Society. His engagement and devotion are shown widely among significant events such as 2021-2023 Taiwan International Queer Film Festival, 2021 Women Make Waves International Film Festival and 2022 Golden Harvest Film Festival Awards. Chen stepped foot in the area of screenwriting in 2022 and is currently working on The Fishbowl Girl, a multi-national queer film. This work has been nominated for Best Narrative Short at the 2024 Golden Horse Awards and Clermont-Ferrand ISFF International Competition. Can You Promise Me One Thing? is his directorial debut.
Director's Statement
When transitioning from being a film critic to a director, I aim to make my identity evident in my work. Therefore, I juxtapose The Gay Brothers, the first queer film in film history, with a modern hookup scene between two gay men, highlighting not only the existence of this rare work but also the historical significance of on-screen same-sex intimacy. Also, I use the transition in sound and color, such as the shift from black-and-white to color imagery, to draw an analogy to the progress of LGBTQ+ rights in Taiwan.
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