Macho Dancer
2010 • 136 minutes
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About this movie
Macho Dancer is a 1988 Philippine film, directed by Lino Brocka. It explores the realities of a young, poor, rural gay man, who after being dumped by his American boyfriend, is forced to support himself and his family in Manila's seamy red-light district. The film's frank depiction of homosexuality, prostitution, drag queens and crooked cops, the porn industry, sexual slavery, and drugs and violence caused Filipino government censors to order extensive edits of the film. Brocka smuggled an uncensored cut out of the Philippines to be shown to a limited number of international film festivals. The film received a standing ovation at the 1988 Toronto International Film Festival. Macho Dancer was a box office failure in the Philippines due to its heavy censorship, but achieved international festival and critical success.
The smuggled, uncensored 35 mm print of the film is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
Macho Dancer is one of the most influential gay films from the Philippines. The film is atypical of its genre in that its main protagonist kills a corrupt police officer without being charged for the crime.
The smuggled, uncensored 35 mm print of the film is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
Macho Dancer is one of the most influential gay films from the Philippines. The film is atypical of its genre in that its main protagonist kills a corrupt police officer without being charged for the crime.