Crystal Boys(2003)

series - first aired/released 2003-02-17 - audience 5.5

Directed by Tsao Jui-yuan

A-Qing, a sensitive youth in 1971 Taipei, is expelled from school and rejected by his family after a same-sex relationship with classmate Zhao Ying is discovered. Alone and searching for belonging, he begins spending time at New Park, a gathering place for gay men, where he meets friends and fellow outsiders navigating love, desire, and survival in a society that ostracizes them. Through his experiences and those of his peers, the story explores identity, friendship, longing, and the struggle for acceptance, offering a nuanced portrait of Taiwan’s gay subculture in the early 1970s and the bonds that sustain a marginalized community.