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Korea Pride Section
- Korean Feature / Shorts Competition / Non Competition
The section that focuses on introducing and discovering queer films created in Korea
Korea Pride Section is one of the most popular sections in SIPFF since audiences can enjoy originality and charm of Korean queer film directors. Every year, the section makes a new record of the number of applications, and hence, audiences can watch competent artworks which have gone through such fierce competition.
In this year’s SIPFF, audiences can watch many great Korean queer films, including PEAFOWL, which is also an opening film of 2022 SIPFF. PEAFOWL generated a lot of attention by its tuque storyline of unfolding how people harmonize and unite through the mixture of kut, nongak, and waacking dance. Actor HAEJUN, the Muse and Persona of Director Byun, played the main character both in God’s Daughter Dances (2020, directed by Byun Sung-bin) and PEAFOWL, and gushes out with an extreme sense of presence. The main points to ponder of PEAFOWL are solid characters made from great chemistry between the director and the actor, and fierce Mise-en-scène. Another feature film Korea Pride Section screen is Queer My Friends, directed by Seo Ah-hyun. It is the documentary film created from the viewpoint of a colleague and church friend of a sexual minority person. Unlike other queer documentary films that unfold the stories from the viewpoint of sexual minority people, this film has a very unique stance, and hence is highly meaningful, because the story is presented from a third person’s view and is presenting broader views on sexual minorities.
2022 SIPFF Korean Shorts Competition section screens many great films that went through fierce competition: Don’t worry directed by Kim Tae-young, who won Best New Director from diverse prestigious film festivals including Blue Dragon Awards and Korean Association of Film Critics Awards with his feature Set Me Free, is one of the most significant short films; Winter cicada, directed by Jung Su-jin, unfolds the story of a dead student during the field practice and a short-term teacher of a specialized high school, and displays the irrationalities of the contemporary society; Director Lee Seong-wook revisits SIPFF with a unique and experimental short film Summer of Love, after he won Special Jury Award at Busan Film Critics Awards, and Audience Judge Award at Indie Film Fest Busan with Ice (directed as Pride Film Project).
Other recommended films by the SIPFF programmer include YOUNGHOON (directed by Jeong Jin-won) which depicted the journey to the past with delicate touch, Elena (directed by Jeong Min-ji) that demonstrated love goes beyond species, gender, and generation, Christmas with lover (directed by Choi Jin-hyuk) that captures the emotional tug-of-war between two men left alone in Christmas, PICNIC (directed by Kang Seung-hee) where a married lesbian couple goes on an unexpected picnic with her father, and Better Than Harley Davidson (directed by You Seung-yeon) which presents dazzling youth who rides bike despite her family’s dissuasion. Chuz Me! (directed by Jo Ye-seul) that unfolds the love and unstable growing story of two girls (Non Competition) is also worth watching.
As such, this year’s Korea Pride Section is filled with the films that will satisfy the high expectations of the audiences. We sincerely hope our audiences will meet beautiful 39 films, which shows the great possibility of Korean queer films.