London-based QUEER EAST cross-disciplinary festival (a Queerguru favorite) showcasing LGBTQ+ cinema and live arts from East and Southeast Asia is hitting the Road. Its UK Nationwide Tour from October to December with take the Fest to venues in Belfast, Bristol, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Kent, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham and Sheffield
This touring program showcases a broad spectrum of cinematic interpretations in queerness, from new releases to retrospective hidden gems, from moving image works to VR cinematic experiences, spanning over 60 years of queer filmmaking in the region. Some program highlights include this year’s opening and closing films: I Love You, Beksman (Philippines, 2022) and Home Ground (South Korea, 2022); and Tsai Ming-Liang’s 1992 debut feature, Rebels of the Neon God (Taiwan, 1992) will have rare screenings across eight venues. A line-up of the festival’s sold-out films, such as What Happened to the Wolf? (Myanmar, 2022), Bad Women of China (China, 2022), Shorts: All About My Mother, and Artists’ Moving Image: Alien Body, Human Dream will also be part of this diverse programme.
This coming weekend is the turn of the Showroom Workshop in Sheffield with a screening of the Korean film PEAFOWL. Its the story of Shin-myung a transgender woman and dancer who competes in waacking, a form of voguing. Having cut ties with her family and rural hometown, Shin-myung seek various ways to fund her gender reassignment surgery. But one day, she is informed that her estranged father, a master of Nongak folk music, has died.
He stipulated that Shin-myung can receive her inheritance money if she returned to the village and performed a traditional drum dance, as part of his memorial rituals. Unwilling to yield to her intolerant father’s posthumous demands, the unapologetic Shin-myung is forced to reluctantly reconnect with her past while staying true to herself.
Driven by an empowering vision of trans identity, this assured debut feature from Byun Sung-bin contemplates the possibilities – and limits – of forgiveness.
Queer East’s On The Road aims to create a platform that offers dynamic Asian LGBTQ+ storytelling and unlocks more inclusive cultural narratives for nationwide audiences. They are supported by the BFI, awarding funds from the National Lottery in order to bring this project to more audiences across the UK.
For tickets and further information : https://www.showroomworkstation.org.uk/peafowl
