By Travis Johnson
Pulse, the queer science fiction film made on a shoestring budget by director Stevie Cruz-Martin and writer/actor/editor Daniel Monks, has not only just made its international debut at the Busan International Film Festival in Korea, it won the BNK Busan Bank award prize, worth $20,000, half of which goes to the creative team, with the other half helping with Korean distribution costs.
Pulse, which screened at the Sydney Film Festival this year, stars Monks, who is himself disabled, as a gay disabled teenager, Olly, who jumps at the chance to avoid the degenerative disease ravaging his body by having his mind transferred into the body of an attractive young woman.
Speaking to IF, Cruz-Martin said, “We were very shocked and extremely excited to take out this award and very humbled by the entire experience. We have been blown away by the support of the Korean audiences here, especially considering their conservative views on disability and LGBTIQA+ communities. After each of our three screenings in Busan many of the audience members told us how important a film like Pulse was for Korea; there is clearly a hunger for this kind of material and that really excites Daniel and myself.”