Phenomenology and Affect: Qiu Jiongjiong’s Madame

Introduction Qiu Jiongjiong’s Madame (Gu Nai Nai姑奶奶, 2010) portrays the character Fan Qihui (樊其辉) who works as a professional tailor during the day, and as a cross-dressing (yizhuang易装) performer named Bilang de Linphél in a local pub in Sanlitun, Beijing, at night. This relatively low-budget production (which is rather emblematic of independent documentary and queer filmmaking in China) deploys techniques such as the adaptation of a black-and-white aesthetic (heibai, 黑白), which has also been...