A screening of Lino Brocka's groundbreaking 1988 film Macho Dancer, presented in 4K restoration as part of the Queer East festival.
HOME is screening a 4K restoration of Macho Dancer on Saturday 21 November, part of the Queer East festival. It's a 1988 gay drama from the Filipino director Lino Brocka, and it runs for 136 minutes.
The story follows Paul, who leaves his poor rural village to work as a dancer, stripper and rent boy in Manila's red light district. It's a portrait of sex workers in the city, and it doesn't hold back on the social critique. Because of that, the film was heavily cut in the Philippines, which led Brocka to smuggle an uncensored copy out to international film festivals. This restoration brings it back in 4K, so it's a chance to see it as it was meant to be seen.
Brocka (1939–1991) was as much an activist as a filmmaker. He's known for other groundbreaking works like Manila in the Claws of Light and Insiang, and he gained international acclaim at Cannes. He co-founded the Concerned Artists of the Philippines, opposed the Marcos dictatorship, and was posthumously named a National Artist for Film. Macho Dancer sits right in the middle of that intersection between cinema and political commitment.
Every week we pick 🏆 the 5 best 🏆 things to do in Manchester and send them to your inbox. Just one weekly email, no spam.
By submitting your email, you accept our Privacy Policy
The screening is part of Queer East, a cross-disciplinary festival that showcases boundary-pushing queer cinema, live arts and moving image work from East and Southeast Asia and its diaspora communities. It's one of several queer films from the region that the festival brings to Manchester. The session starts at 5:45 PM at HOME.
