Australian film Pulse has had its first international screening and caught the attention of film industry bible Variety.
The no-budget film, created by filmmakers Daniel Monks and Stevie Cruz-Martin, was screened at the Busan Film Festival in South Korea. The film was previously screened at the Sydney Film Festival.
The film is about a young gay man with disabilities who changes into the body of a beautiful woman in order to be loved.
Daniel Monks, who is gay and disabled, stars in the film alongside Caroline Brazier in the film. Monks wrote the script and long time collaborator Cruz-Martin directed the feature.
The creative duo, who are originally from Perth, have previously made several short films together. Monks was named WA Young Filmmaker of the Year at the 2014 WA Screen Awards.
For Monks, the story was developed from his own personal experience. When he was eleven doctors discovered a large tumour on his spinal cord. Complications from the initial biopsy left him quadriplegic.
Monks told SBS Sexuality that it was an experience from this period of his childhood that formed the basis for the film.
During this time of his adolescence that the writer / actor was becoming aware of his sexuality, and from his wheel chair he witnessed the young boy he had a crush on begin to date an attractive blonde haired girl.
“I remember thinking, ‘what if I looked like her, he’d be looking at me like that’,” Monks said. “I had such a disconnect from my body, it didn’t feel like my own anymore. I didn’t recognise it.”
After he was treated by acclaimed surgeon Charlie Teo, and months of rehab, Monks was able to regain the use of his left side which had been affected by the tumour.
OIP Staff
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