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The section that introduces the first/second films of the talented, new queer film directors

New PRIDE Section presents the films created by the noteworthy new directors, displaying unique oeuvres. SIPFF selects and screens high quality films of new directors who have directed less than two films. In 2023’s New PRIDE Section, many films by prominent new directors recognized by the leading film festivals all over the world, will be screened as Asian premiers.

<The Lost Boys> directed by Zeno Graton expressed the tragic situation of the two main characters in love living in Youth Detention Center that bans physical contacts with delicate emotions, and it will grasp the attention of those audiences who love European queer films. <Big Boys> directed by Corey Sherman has a cute storyline of a chubby boy being attracted to his cousin’s boyfriend, which everyone can empathize. This film will provide the audience the chance to feel the diverse production environment of American queer films, which allows to make public movie out of the theme that may be easily created into the movie in Korean society.  

Another noteworthy film from this year’s New PRIDE Section is <Mutt> directed by Vuk Lungulov-Klotz, which presents the story of the life of a transgender person after they got a sex change operation, winning the Best Actor Award at 2023 Sundance Film Festival. While many transgender films focus on the process of the surgery itself, this film rather focuses on the life after the surgery. Displaying the life of a transgender person without any fabrication, the film encourages the audience to empathize how transgender people can maintain their daily lives. 

<Norwegian Dream> directed by Leiv Igor Devold presents the stories of the Polish immigrant laborers working at a Norwegian factory and the Norwegian black people. The film shows Polish laborers facing the reality where the black people they used to neglect, have grown in better circumstances, and have advanced perspectives on their identities. Fiercely displaying the issues of regional relationship between the Northwestern and Eastern Europe, races, and social classes through the two main characters, <Norwegian Dream> makes the audience pay attention for the director’s next film. 

There are some films, filled with charms of North American queer movies, you can only meet at SIPFF. <Golden Delicious> directed by Jason Karman presents the story of a man from an Asian-Canadian immigrant family. If <Lost Boys> is quite French, <Golden Delicious> has the traits of North American queer cinema, modernly showing the two generations of immigrant family with a sturdy plot, and helps the audience look into the lives of immigrants naturally adapted to Canadian society. <Punch> directed by Welby Ings is a sports queer film, displaying the growth of a teenage boxing hero. Thus, those who want to read the flow of contemporary queer films should pay attention to New PRIDE Section, as it screens diverse films of unique new directors.