The Teacher 我的靈魂是愛做的

Film

Feature Film

When gay teacher Kevin begins a passionate relationship with Gao, an older married man who is HIV positive, he finds himself facing conflict on all sides.

Information

Programme History

Part of Queer East Festival 2020

Director: Ming-Lang Chen
Runtime: 92 Mins
Year: 2019
Country: Taiwan

When gay Civics teacher Kevin openly voices his stance on marriage equality at school, he stirs up a storm and his boss warns him not to mention the subject again. But the tension between Kevin’s professional role and personal life becomes much more damaging when he begins a passionate relationship with Gao, an older married man who is HIV positive. Kevin soon finds himself facing conflict on all sides, not least with Gao’s wife, who resents the threat he poses to their marriage of convenience. When a rumour breaks out in the school about his HIV status, Kevin is forced to confront personal betrayal and deep-rooted prejudice. Director Chen Ming-Lang’s second feature film resonates with the recent campaigns for marriage equality in Taiwan, and exposes the everyday discrimination faced by people diagnosed with HIV.