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The Outsiders (18*)

Queer East Festival 2026

,Cinema 1
Four people stand in front of a busy, glittering event space. They wear formal clothing, including white shirts and colourful bow ties, and are standing with their hands clasped in front of them as though greeting.

A high school student who has been thrown out of his family home heads to Taipei’s cruising ground in this first screen adaptation of Pai Hsien-Yung’s novel Crystal Boys, now restored in 4K.

After being discovered having sex with a man, A-Qing finds refuge with a group of fellow queer outcasts in Taipei's New Park, where director Yu Kan-Ping’s heady mix of dreamlike fantasy, hysterical melodrama and glitzy nightclub scenes creates a camp, surreal mood. 

Yet Yu also succeeds in capturing the emotional rawness of high schooler A-Qing’s experience, and from our 21st century perspective, offers a nostalgic documentation of real-life sites in Taipei’s historical cruising scene, now long gone.

Stunningly shot and restored to include previously censored material, this stylistically dazzling adaptation can now be appreciated in its full, hallucinatory glory.

Tagged with: Cinema Queer East Festival 2026

This film is also known as Outcasts.

With support from the Ministry of Culture, Taiwan and Taiwan Film & Audiovisual Institute (TFAI).

In Mandarin and Taiwanese Hokkien with English subtitles.

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) provides guidance to audiences, to help them choose what’s right for them and avoid what’s not. For guidance, please click here and type the film title into the search bar. 

Film information
  • Release year   1986
  • Country of origin   Taiwan
  • Director   Yu Kan-Ping
  • Runtime   1hr 44mins

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Cinema 1

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Barbican Cinema 1 is located within the main Barbican building on Level -2. Head to Level G and walk towards the Lakeside Terrace where you’ll find stairs and lifts to take you down to the venue floor.   

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