Blue Gate Crossing marks director Yee Chih-yen's long-awaited return to the Festival after his impressive feature film debut with Lonely Hearts Club (SFILGFF '95). And now he's back with an exceptional new queer film that was selected as part of the Cannes Film Festival's prestigious Director's Fortnight event!

Blue Gate Crossing is about teenage crushes. The tomboyish Meng Ke Rou is some­ times serious, but her schoolgirl silliness unleashes itself when she's with her close girl­ friend, Lin Yue Zhen. So far so good, but Meng Ke Rou has the hots for Zhang Shi Hao, the sexy boy on the swim team. One evening when Zhang sneaks into the pool to do laps, he confronts Ke Rou who tells him that her friend likes him. He thinks "the friend" is imaginary and that Ke Rou is coming on to him. Of course, she's already enlightened to her enchanting desires for women, so it's fair to say she's looking to do her laps elsewhere...

There's an unforeseen twist in the film that goes unchallenged — but this is what makes the film so enjoyable. While some films try to knock you over the head with "unique" characters and twists, Yee Chih-yen is unapologetic, allowing for a natural flow of unconventional perspectives. The technique is effective. After all, haven't we all swam-or continue to swim-in the pool of adolescence, struggling to fit in, wrestling with demons, and trying to just stay afloat?