NEW PRIDE

A section that highlights the remarkable talents of emerging directors in queer cinema, 

presenting their debut or sophomore works.

Programmer’s Recommendations: 

If You Are Afraid You Put Your Heart into Your Mouth and Smile, That Summer in Paris, Silver Star

The New PRIDE section showcases notable new directors and their distinctive cinematic worlds. Focusing on debut and second features, this program selects highly accomplished works that reveal exceptional creative potential. In 2025, audiences will encounter a range of outstanding films by emerging filmmakers—many of them Asian premieres—recognized at major international film festivals.

If You Are Afraid You Put Your Heart into Your Mouth and Smile by Marie Luise LEHNER(Director) follows twelve-year-old Anna, who lives with her deaf mother on the outskirts of Vienna. Entering high school, Anna begins to feel the weight of difference and isolation, yet through a ski trip and a new friendship, she gradually learns to embrace both her and her mother’s identities. This debut feature delicately explores adolescence, family, and identity with warmth and emotional depth.

That Summer in Paris by Valentine CADIC(Director) unfolds during the 2024 Paris Olympics. Blondin, a young woman from Normandy, travels to Paris to attend the games. Amid the bustle of the city and an unexpected reunion, she begins a quiet journey of self-discovery. With its concise yet immersive storytelling and sensitive direction, the film captures both the rhythm of the city and the inner emotions of its characters. It offers a gentle, lyrical portrait of freedom, serendipity, and summer tenderness—an essential viewing for those interested in contemporary French queer cinema.

Silver Star by Ruben AMAR(Director) and Lola BESSIS(Director) centers on Billy (Grace Van Dien) and Franny (Troy Leigh-Anne Johnson). After being released from prison, twenty-year-old Billy attempts a bank robbery to save his family’s foreclosed home. The plan fails, and he takes nineteen-year-old Franny, a pregnant teenager, as a hostage. As they cross the vast American landscape, the two form an unlikely bond, finding trust and solace in each other. Reinterpreting the classic road-movie tradition through a modern lens, the film combines the sensitivity of French direction with the raw energy of American indie cinema.

Featuring such diverse and distinctive works by emerging directors, the New PRIDE section offers a glimpse into the contemporary currents and creative future of queer cinema.