What's life like for China's gay and lesbian population? Many Westerners are finding out, thanks to Li Yu, the young Chinese director who took on the risky task of featuring a lesbian love story in her first feature film.

China's first lesbian-themed film, "Jin nian xia tian (Fish and Elephant)," overcame myriad obstacles, from government censors to outraged prospective actors, but it's finding a home abroad, becoming a festival darling in Europe and North America.

It won prizes at the Venice and Berlin Film Festivals and has been featured at more than 70 festivals overall. The film was shown only once in China - at the country's first gay and lesbian film festival, which was shut down before its conclusion.

Li, a 28-year-old former TV host, shot the $60,000 film without the support of the mainstream film community. She employed amateur actors because professionals were either incensed by the plot or afraid to take on the lead roles of the two female lovers.

"Fish and Elephant" is the latest in a handful of cinematic and societal breakthroughs for China's long-harassed gay community. Until last year, gays and lesbians were classified by the Chinese Psychiatric Association as mentally ill.

The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences estimates that four percent of men and three percent of women in China are gay. Western sociologists have concluded that up to 10 percent of any population is gay.

In 1996, when Zhang Yuan filmed China's first gay movie, "East Palace, West Palace," police still were allowed to arrest gays.

"Times have changed, obviously. Here [in the United States], gay culture is mainstream. We have TV shows and movies coming along all the time with prominent gay characters, but Asian and, to a lesser extent, Asian-American culture, still stigmatizes gays and lesbians," said Lisa Koh, a member of the Gay Asian Pacific Support Network.

"A few years ago, something like this couldn't be made, so there's been progress, but there's a long way to go in China," she said.

The movie expresses the hopelessness that plagues many of China's lesbians, Li said at the Vancouver Film Festival. "I wanted to express the real pain and helplessness of a woman," she said. "In the main character's eyes, society is like a wall. Her hopes and desires are blocked outside the wall. Her silent resistance brings her even more pressure and pain."

It's too early to tell whether "Fish and Elephant's" overseas success will provide more opportunities for gay filmmakers in China, but its mere existence is something to celebrate, said film reviewer Shelly Kraicer.

"It opens a door, treats its subject with sensitivity, a graceful, intimate, good-humoured honesty, and a lack of pretension," she said.