We Are Here
Director：Zhao Jing, Shi Tou
Screenwriter：Zhao Jing, Wei Tingting, Shi Tou
Cast：
Producer：Wei Tingting
Cinematographer：Shi Tou, Mingming, Zhaojing
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Language：Mandarin Chinese, English
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SYNOPSIS
What happens when 300 lesbians from around the world attend the largest United Nations conference? How did two busloads of lesbians headed to an underground nightclub help spark the birth of a lala (LBT) movement in China? At the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, the first ever lesbian tent at an UN NGO Forum was created. At the tent, ideas were shared, connections were made, identities were assured… with a growing emergence of energy for change.
Director Biography
Zhao Jing is a publisher, multimedia producer, co-founder and chief-editor of les+, a major media outlet for the queer women community in China. Jing has been a pioneer LGBT activist in China since 2005. Shi Tou is an artist with queer activism started in the 1990s. She is China’s first out lesbian activist; in 2000 she starred in the country’s first lesbian movie, Fish and Elephant (《今年夏天》). She took part in a panel on national TV about homosexuality, with outspoken gay director Cui Zi’en and sexologist Li Yinhe. Her films and artworks have been shown at many film festivals and exhibitions around the world.
Director's Statement
Ten years ago, I had a thought — to make a documentary about the queer women’s movement. It would tell the story of a queer woman speaking at the 1995 World Conference on Women, and about that tent — a place where queer women gathered, stood up, and made themselves visible. To me, We Are Here is that tent itself. It symbolizes a space where the presence and voices of queer women have always existed within social movements — not as bystanders, but as witnesses and creators. The interviews with He Xiaopei and Shi Tou form the heart of this film. Their laughter and stories give the footage breath and warmth. Alongside them are memories from international friends, archival scenes from the 1995 Conference, and music composed especially for the film — each moment a luminous pearl. As the director, I am honored to have threaded them into a necklace of light and remembrance. Over the past decade, whenever I open the film’s Douban page and read new reviews, I feel a tender illusion — as if the film keeps on walking, keeps on finding its way. It has traveled to Sweden, Korea, and the U.K., and has been screened in many cities across China. To everyone who has shown it, shared it, or simply loved it — thank you. You are the reason it continues to be seen. Ten years have passed. Sometimes, it feels harder to speak out. And yet, the seeds have already scattered — from that tent, from the voices of ten years ago — they have become a quiet storm, awakening courage in those who followed. Perhaps we no longer see grand marches in the streets, but an invisible movement is still unfolding in every person who dares to live their truth — especially in the young queer women who embody that courage. We Are Here is not only about “we were here.” It is about this — we are still here. Every person who lives authentically carries history within them. Since 2013, Sam (Zhao Jing) and Tingting invited me to join them in preparing and creating We Are Here, and I then invited Mingming to join us. We were all thrilled by the idea that we could finally sort through and present our shared history together!
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