Deadline: A short feature film on the experiences and psche of a closet gay

• Main Authors: Cruz, Igor Mauricio, Keh, Jonathan, Reyes, Michelle Joy
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2013
• Subjects: Feature films; Closeted gays; Homosexuality in motion pictures; Communication
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/10500
• Institution: De La Salle University

The short film tackles homosexuality in a more serious tone, as opposed to being commonly associated with comedy and humor. Basing the story on interviews of previously closeted gays, the proponents introduce a perspective that is fresh from what has already been used in the past. In addition to this, the proponents also incorporated the element of the Chinese community, an ethnic group that is known to be very traditional and strict in their perspective of how Chinese men should be. The 25-minute film follows the life of a teenager Chinese-Filipino closet gay, named Joshua, who has been struggling under the pressure and expectations of his family. Geared with fear, pain and self-loathing, Joshua tries his best to hide his sexuality by remaining distant to his family and friends while secretly meeting other people like him to seek comfort. It was not until his teacher tasks him in writing a story as a project which encourages Joshua to dig deeper on his own experiences and express himself through narrative. This short film uses the literary device of having a story within a story (a.k.a. mise en abyme ), with the inner story manifesting the psche and emotional state of the outer story's main character.