The crowd were parted into three lines. Before we were admitted into the screening room, we were checked against a list of email addresses. It was farcical surreptitiousness in broad daylight. We shuffled into the room and onto uncomfortable folding bench chairs and were invited to give a donation to help the organizers make up somewhat for the use of the space. The rows filled quickly and bums overflowed onto the floor in front of the screen. The excitement was tangible, and I was reminded - oddly enough - of the underground rackets of alcohol bootlegging during prohibition in the United States.

In Singapore, a Censorship Review Committee (CRC) is convened once in a decade to make recommendations of updates to the standing guidelines on censorship. The last committee was convened in 2002. A survey commissioned by the CRC at the end of 2002 reflected that the majority supported a reduction of censorship for adults and felt that it was the duty of parents, not the government, to mitigate the kind of content that their children were exposed to. Aside from the religious right, most felt that "homosexual films could be shown under the appropriate rating."

In spite of these conclusions, the Media Development Authority (MDA) insists on maintaining its so-called "cautious approach" so as to limit the perceived threat that such films pose in coaxing the otherwise heterosexual mind from its straight and narrow.

The MDA concedes to allowing certain homosexual films to be screened at film festivals such as the Singapore International Film Festival (SIFF) where the "impact" of these films is apparently limited. Lan Yu passes the criteria of being "non-exploitative or non-promotional", whereas Formula 17 fails because at the end of the film no one seems as if he's about to commit suicide in tragic desperation.

With this in mind, what were the odds that an event like this would ever take place?

Short Circuit was a one-night screening of works by queer filmmakers as well as works that touch on subjects relevant to the GLBT community. This showcasing of such works was an initiative by the organization, People Like Us, a Singapore gay and lesbian group focussed on advocacy and public education. Short Circuit was the first ever showing of its kind in Singapore. Unfortunately, admission was by-invitation only - limited by the capacity of the Guinness Theatre at the Substation and the nature of the films screened.

Boo Junfeng is a local filmmaker. Boo and his compatriots had toyed with the idea of a similar screening - on a smaller scale, of course - during the recent Indignation season. It would have been Singapore's first ever screening of collected gay-themed films by local filmmakers to a public audience. Even on a small television at the corner of a room - away from the eyes of children, the elderly, and some others deemed faint of heart - this was legally unsound and was not followed through. Last Friday, it would finally come to pass. Well... with a compromise.

Boo was one of the coordinators of Short Circuit. He mentioned having felt strange that his film, A Family Portrait, was to be included. Boo had curated the selection of films that would comprise the event and each film that was screened on the night had passed his own eyes.

Because of the obvious concerns, the organizers made it a point not to publicise the event widely and relied almost exclusively on word-of-mouth. Last Wednesday, and only two days before the event, I asked two friends - both fiendish fanatics of Asian films and both actively involved in the community - and neither had so much as heard of Short Circuit.

The response was no shame, but for something that I would have considered in my mind monumentally significant, I was embarrassed that I hadn't played more of a part in this word-of-mouth campaign. 197 people had written in for inclusion on the guest list. If 197 full-grown individuals had turned up at the Guinness Theatre, it would have been a fire hazard.

On the 6th of October, Friday, Short Circuit screened eight short films, in addition to four clips taken from the installations of contemporary Singaporean artist, Brian Gothong Tan. Boo had initially set out with a limited selection in mind. When word got out of Short Circuit, he began receiving submissions from filmmakers he barely knew.

The selection of works proved a mix bag. The award-winning short filmmaker, Sun Koh, contributed Bedroom Dancing, a fictional adaptation of a true Singapore story about a couple who screw like rabbits - interesting to Boo because of all the heterosexual intercourse. Boo's own work, A Family Portrait, is a charming reflection about the meaning of sex to a seventeen year-old Sergio.

The comedies were wonderful crowd-pleasers. Demam Jantan (Boy Fever), an entry by Ezzam Rahman and Ghazi Alqudcy, is a camp comedy about two gay teenagers - played hilariously enough by Rahman and Alqudcy themselves - who perform a folk ritual at a Malay cemetery in hopes of getting their boyfriend back. Tan's Asian Girls Vol. 2: Memoirs of a Geisha is laugh-till-your-sides-hurt hysterical as a parody of the 2005 Hollywood adaptation of Arthur Golden's novel, referencing everything from Zhang Ziyi's credit card commercial to Michelle Yeoh's commercial's touting Malaysia as a tourist destination. Featuring local playwright Alfian Sa'at in drag, looking into the lens with pouting lips and saying, "Mameha, truly geisha"? Priceless.

A D Chan's Falling Into Fuchsia turned out more entertaining that she had meant. In the film, a sibilant Rick Tan plays an actor confused about his attraction to another man. Even with a girlfriend played by Corrine Adrienne, the audience saw it coming from the get-go.

The significance of this gathering is unquestionable. The intimacy of the gathering had gone some way to encouraging filmmaker Charmaine Wong to debut her politically-charged piece, Pink IC, which not only makes criticism of the Singapore government's stance on homosexuality, but also offers a glimpse of life as a lesbian in Singapore through the accounts of five Singaporean women.

It is the sentiments of Boo and the other organizers that such events as Short Circuit build community. Ivan Heng of the theatre company, Wild Rice, who was in attendance, said that people came as strangers and left with something that they shared in common. But where do we go from here?

Short Circuit was progress, in a manner of speaking - but how much? Laws that restrict the screening of gay-themed films were circumvented with the by-invitation admission. The experience was edifying for those privileged enough to have attended. Hardly anyone outside those four walls, never mind the larger population of the island, could ever comprehend the power of having watched those films.

Sincerest thanks and kudos must go to the organizers behind the event. What else would have made Short Circuit possible had it not been for the efforts of the individuals who had cared enough to make it happen? The assembled audience had a taste. Nevertheless, the feasibility of a full-fledged gay and lesbian film festival in Singapore remains a glimmer as long as the availability and distribution of gay and lesbian content in Singapore remains an ongoing negotiation.

Author's bio: Having worked previously as sub-editor (albeit, effectively editor) at a small and limited circulation publication, Kerbing Lee feels that it is time for him to propagate his wise and omniscient views on a larger stage. When not penning down his ever-incoherent thoughts, Lee can be found running like a big, sweaty ostrich around the vicinity of Holland Village, or capsizing kayaks along the far-from-crystal-clear waters of East Coast Park.