Drag in Me

This ground-breaking documentary debut by 26-year-old director Quinn Chen challenges conventional notions of gender and identity. Initially setting out to film a queer teacher Kinky Mama in his graduate school, Chen unexpectedly transforms the project into a deeply personal exploration of his own gender expression by creating the drag persona ‘Rachel’. The film courageously navigates the complex intersections of masculinity, femininity, and queer identity in contemporary Taiwan. Despite being the first Asian country to legalise same-sex marriage, Chen reveals the persistent social and familial pressures faced by sexual minorities. Confronting doubts from his parents and girlfriend, he candidly documents his journey of self-discovery, oscillating between contradiction and courage. More than a film about drag queens, ‘Drag in Me’ is a nuanced narrative of self-identity. Chen suggests that ‘being oneself’ is not a fixed state, but a continuous process of collision, experimentation, and finding one’s authentic stance. The documentary, which won Best Documentary at the New Taipei City Student Video Rising Star Awards, has been enthusiastically received by NGOs and television audiences.