The city is always a good place for the alternative crowd to find freedom, open up and make peace with their identity, as well as connect with others in the community. The Q! Film Festival, blowing a refreshing breeze into its seven birthday candles this year, is just what this is all about. From August 8 to 16, ending on an intriguing symbolic note just before the Indonesian independence day, the festival makes an ambitious return to celebrate queer culture, with not only 80 films, but a big line-up of events to go to almost all through the festival, taking on the theme “Naturally Different.”

On-Screen
No less than 80 films from various countries, forms and genres are on board this year to tackle several queer issues. The age-old but still relevant takes on advocacy and political aspects of queer rights are offered by documentaries like Suddenly, Last Winter (Italy), a feisty take on, and by, a gay couple chronicling a country in turmoil in response to the same-sex partnership legislation; and Women who Love Women, an itimate glimpse into the lives of lesbians in Singapore; as well as French feature My Super 8 Season, inspired by a gay rights movement front in 70s Paris.

But sometimes, it is the deeply personal tales that can truly strike some chords, like the documentary Risk, Stretch or Die (Germany), about a French drag star in Berlin who's also a successful businesswoman during the day; With Gilbert and George (UK), about a successful duo of artists; and The Birthday (The Netherlands), a searing look at a young man going through a process of becoming a woman in religious Iran.

In the feature department, celebrated Taiwanese director Tsai Ming Liang turns in a touching and at the same time comical story of three outcasts making a connection on the streets of Kuala Lumpur, with I Don't Want to Sleep Alone (Taiwan/France). A twisted take on some sort of a queer Cinderella story comes in The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela (Iceland/The Philippines), where a lady boy prostitute ventures into Internet porn in order to make her dream trip to Paris.

A daring edge is offered by Sita Sings the Blues (USA), a beautifully animated interpretation of the Indian epic Ramayana, set to the 1920s jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw. And a comical turn is brought by Spinnin', a Spanish drama about a gay couple trying to have a child, who befriends a pregnant woman and encounters a palette of colorful characters in 1995 Madrid. Even a zombie can be comical, in Otto, or Up with Dead People (Germany).

The musical genre does not take a leave of absence, with Royston Tan's 881, which follows two Singaporean girls making their way in the Singapore traditional music scene, and Christophe Honoré's Love Songs.

The festival also features the classic A Very Natural Thing (USA), one of a few films released in the 1970s to focus openly on homosexuality, depicting gay life in NYC as seen through the eyes of a gay priest turned teacher.