Byun Sung-bin
115 mins
Shin–myung is 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 returns to the village and performs 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.
Byun Sung-bin has made several short films, including Horn (2014), The Chicken of Wuzuh (2015), and Hands and Wings (2019), which screened at numerous film festivals internationally. He won the Audience Award at the Clermont‑Ferrand International Short Film Festival with God’s Daughter Dances (2020). Peafowl is his debut feature.