Southwest Gay & Lesbian Film Festival 2008

Zero Chou, the director of one of last year’s festival favorites, Spider Lilies, brings us Drifting Flowers, three interconnected stories of love and longing. The first story centers on the love that develops between Jing, a blind nightclub singer and Chalkie, her butch accordion-playing accompanist. Jing’s younger sister Meigo is caught between her love for her sister and her developing crush on Chalkie. The middle story is an ode to the power of memory and the shadows of age. Lily, suffering from Alzheimer’s, dreams of her lost husband, Ocean. One day Yen shows up, now homeless because of AIDS. The two create a new and unlikely relationship shaped by the past and lost loves. The third story takes us back to Chalkie’s youth, as she comes to terms with her lesbianism, binding her breasts to disguise her growing body. A young Lily is entranced by the mystery of Chalkie’s gender neutrality. The two help each other find what they search for. – Jack Trujillo