Buy Happy Birthday on DVD

SYNOPSIS

A superb debut film from director Yen Tan with gay and lesbian characters, first-rate performances and a powerful message.

REVIEW

Malaysian-born Yen Tan's Happy Birthday is an amazingly assured drama centering around five very different people who share the same birthday as well as varying problems of self-acceptance, family tensions and unrequited love. There is Kelly, a young lesbian whose recent breakup with her lover causes regret and retrospection, especially for her continuing crush on her college roommate; Jim, a gay, overweight telemarketer (for a weight loss program) whose success at selling diet pills masks his low self-esteem and sadness; Ron, a minister who enthusiastically preaches the ability to switch from being gay to straight, all the while privately watching gay porn; Javed, a Pakistani from an Islamic family who is now living in the States with his American lover (a gay porn actor) but faces deportation and returns to his estranged family; and Tracy, a Taiwanese-born former student whose visit by her conservative mother forces her to hide her lesbianism.

As their birthdays near, all five are forced to face the demons that stifle their lives. A fascinating, at times familiarly unsettling, look at issues facing people in general and gays and lesbians in particular as they attempt to navigate the rapid waters of life. (English, Mandarin, Urdu & Spanish with English subtitles)

Winner Grand Jury Prize "Best Feature" - Philadelphia Intl Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
Winner New Directors Showcase - Portland LGBT Showcase
Official Selection - Toronto Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, Sydney Mardi Gras Film Festival, Melbourne Queer Film Festival

-- Raymond Murray

AWARDS:

2002 Grand Jury Prize
— 2002 Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
2005 Director's Showcase for Best Film
— 2002 Portland Gay and Lesbian Film Festival