2026 Korea on Screen: Peafowl (공작새)

The Korean Cultural Center New York proudly presents Peafowl as part of its Korea on Screen series—a year-long screening series celebrating the depth and diversity of Korean cinema. Through feature films, documentaries, short films, and independent productions, the series aims to broaden access to and appreciation of Korean cinema in New York City.

Peafowl follows Myung, a transgender dancer living in Seoul, as she is drawn back to her estranged hometown after the sudden death of her father—a master of traditional Korean folk percussion. To claim her inheritance, she must perform a traditional memorial rite deeply rooted in gendered ritual, forcing a reckoning between who she is and what her family and community expect her to be. Director Byun Sung-bin brings an electric, kinetic energy to the film, grounding its emotional intensity in the textures of folk ritual, queer identity, and the unfinished business of family.