anorak studio // When Lesbians Marry Gay Men

Join us for an evening dedicated to the work of Beijing-based activist and filmmaker Xiaopei He, who is a fellow in the anorak residency programme 2025/26. Conceived by anorak in collaboration with filmmaker and curator Popo Fan, the evening takes place during Berlin’s Pride Month 2025, to honour Xiaopei’s three decades of activism for queer rights and visibility, and amplify voices that have been underrepresented.

“She was the pioneer—and now, she’s the avant-garde,” says Popo Fan, long-term collaborator and comrade of Xiaopei. Since the 1990s, Xiaopei has been active in the feminist and lesbian movements in China and participated in the 1995 United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women. She later moved to the UK, earning a PhD in sexuality and cultural theory, before returning to China, where she founded Pink Space—an NGO dedicated to promoting sexual rights and gender equality—and began working with film as a medium to represent marginalised desires and lives. Xiaopei’s gaze is fearless and inquisitive. Laced with humour and critical clarity, she zooms in on the seemingly ordinary aspects of life to reveal them as potential sites for resistance to the larger socio-political forces shaping them.

The evening presents a screening of Xiaopei’s documentary Our Marriages – When Lesbians Marry Gay Men (2013). Filmed over two years in Shenyang, Northeast China, it follows the life stories of four lesbian women who enter so-called ‘lavender marriages’ (xíngshì hūnyīn)—partnerships arranged with gay men that outwardly resemble heterosexual unions, in response to the deep-rooted pressures of marriage and filial duty. The film traces intimate negotiations of identity, care, and social pressure, portraying queer ways of life in contemporary China. The screening is followed by a conversation with Xiaopei He and Popo Fan, exploring the intersections of filmmaking and activism as modes of resistance.

Marking the 30th anniversary of the 1995 World Conference on Women in Beijing, of which Xiaopei was an active participant, the documentary We Are Here (2015) produced by Tingting Wei, which traces the legacy of feminist organising in China, will be on view during the evening.

_

Xiaopei He’s films have been shown internationally at film festivals and institutions including Queer East Film Festival London, International Film Awards Berlin, Shanghai Queer Film Festival, China Independent Film Festival, and the Beijing Queer Film Festival. Xiaopei’s residency at anorak is realised in co-operation with Z/KU – Center for Art and Urbanistics, Berlin.

Popo Fan is a Berlin-based Chinese filmmaker and curator. His films include queer activism documentaries and scripted, sex-positive shorts. You can find further info on his work at www.popofan.net.

anorak studio is a programme hosting experimental live-formats that challenge traditional formal limitations—including genre, style, canon, authorship, expertise, closure, copyright, censorship, and coherence. It serves as a communal space for artists based in or passing through Berlin to share and process ideas with peers and the broader public, through residencies, learning and play, and spontaneous presentations.