New York City has had the pleasure of hosting the Korean American Film Festival and now it is Los Angeles’ turn. The inaugural Korean American Film Festival Los Angeles (KAFFLA) kicks off on August 9th, 2012 and runs until the 11th at the Korean Cultural Center Los Angeles (5505 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036). The festival will feature 4 feature-length narrative and documentary films and 13 short films in non-competitive programs.
New York City has had the pleasure of hosting the Korean American Film Festival and now it is Los Angeles’ turn. The inaugural Korean American Film Festival Los Angeles (KAFFLA) kicks off on August 9th, 2012 and runs until the 11th at the Korean Cultural Center Los Angeles (5505 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036). The festival will feature 4 feature-length narrative and documentary films and 13 short films in non-competitive programs.
Over the course of three-days KAFFLA will feature centerpiece films from 5 Korean American directors and their varying perspectives on the LA Riots, as 4.29.12 marked the 20th anniversary. KJ Park, KAFFLA Director, states, “In remembrance of 4.29, we envision this festival articulating the voices of a new generation of Koreans and Korean Americans while recognizing the period that sparked a move to create a strong Korean American awareness. We hope that through this festival, an ethnically diverse audience will participate and create a dialogue within their communities about the dangers of racial tension, the continued existence of cultural divisions, and ways to sponsor understanding.”
The opening night of the festival on August 9th screens the feature film Should’ve Kissed, preceded by the short Wedding Palace: Behind-The-Scenes. Friday the 10th includes two Incubator Programs, where Asian and Asian-American filmmakers get to test screen their films and works-in-progress, during the afternoon and then a Shorts program in the evening. The included Shorts are Korean School, Rejects, Blue, City, Recorder Exam, Saeng-Il, The Problem of Gravity, Hooked, and Dol. Filmmakers will be in attendance for Q&A’s after the program screening.
The final day of the festival screens two feature films, Magic and Loss and Ultimate Christian Wrestling. In the afternoon the LA Riots 2012 Program debuts, with the aforementioned 5 Short films that focus on the LA Riots being shown with filmmakers in attendance. The films are LA Riots: Reflections On Our Future, Clash of Colors, Pokdong, LAR20, and I Got My Mind Made Up.
As a newly formed affiliate of the Korean American Film Festival New York (KAFFNY), the Korean American Film Festival Los Angeles seeks to achieve the same focus of “supporting and presenting the diversity of Korean American and Korean perspectives in film.” The diverse cultures of moviegoing audiences found in Los Angeles are sure to embrace KAFFLA with open arms as another welcome addition to the city’s film festival offerings.
FESTIVAL FILMS:
OPENING NIGHT
Wedding Palace: Behind The Scenes
Director: David Spell (USA / 2011 / 23 min)
A documentary of the triumphs and struggles of financing and making the first independent US- Korean film co-production, Christine Yoo’s Wedding Palace, shot in Los Angeles and Seoul, Korea. Cast: Brian Tee, Bobby Lee, Stephen Park, Kang Hye-jung (Old Boy) and Christine Yoo.
Should’ve Kissed
Director: Jinoh Park. West Coast Premiere (USA / 2010 / 80 mins)
Set in the cutthroat audition world of New York City, a confident, struggling Korean actor, Jun, struggles to find acting roles, and after an intense meeting with a director, meets an aspiring actress, Summer – they bond and share an intimate time together. Cast: Jinoh Park, Marina Michelson
KAFFNY INCUBATOR PROGRAM (Friday, August 10th, 2:00pm and 4:30pm)
A unique screening opportunity for local filmmakers to showcase their current or recent projects. Audiences can experience the next generation of filmmakers who will showcase films with Asian and Asian-American themes, and or made by Asian filmmakers and talent. Films will be shown and discussed in a lively interactive audience event.
SHORTS PROGRAM
Korean School Rejects
Director: Peter Yun (USA / 2012 / 20 min)
Blue
Director: Stephen Kang (New Zealand / 2011 / 14 min)
City
Directors: Young-geun Kim, Ye-young Kim (Korea / 2010 / 6 min)
Recorder Exam
Director: Bora Kim ( Korea / 2011 / 27 min)
Saeng-Il
Director: Jennifer Suhr (USA / 2010 / 11 min)
The Problem of Gravity
Director: Trevor Zhou (USA / 2012 / 5 min)
Hooked
Director: Stuart Howe (South Korea / 2011 / 10 min)
Dol
Director: Andrew Ahn (USA / 2012 / 11 min)
SPECIAL FEATURE PROGRAM
Magic and Loss
Director: Lim Kah Wai (Japan / Korea / Malaysia / Hong Kong / France / USA / China/ 2010/81min)
While traveling in Hong Kong, two young women who are strangers, Kiki and Kkobbi, win a trip to a vacation resort called Mui Wo. They bond amidst the mysterious and isolated atmosphere of the resort. During the course of an unusual adventure, their conflicted and unpredictable relationship evolves, and surprising conflicts and secrets emerge.
Cast: Kiki Sugino, Kim Kkobbi, Yang Ik-june
CENTERPIECE PROGRAM: LA RIOTS
The LA Riots: Reflections On Our Future
Director: Keun Pyo “Root” Park (USA / 2012 / 10 min)
Clash of Colors: LA Riots of 1992
Director: David D. Kim (USA / 2012 / 81 min)
Pokdong
Director: Alex Dongwan Ko (USA / 2006 / 24 min)
LAR20 (work-in-progress)
Director: David H. Kim. (USA / 2012 / 30 min)
I Got My Mind Made Up
Music Video, Featuring rap group 429: Billy Chun, Regan Farquhar and Rashad West (USA / 1992 / 4 min)
CLOSING NIGHT
Ultimate Christian Wrestling
Directors: Jae-Ho Chang, Tara Autovino. West Coast Premiere (USA / 2012 / 83 min)
Co-directors Chang and Autovino document a group of traveling evangelical pro-wrestlers from rural Georgia, capturing a complex portrait of the three main characters and their individual struggle to find acceptance, love, and means to a better life. Eschewing the media’s love affair with religious controversy, this documentary explores the nature of faith, and the disappointment of dreams both lost and realized.
More information on the festival, including ticketing information, visit the KAFFLA website: http://kaffny.com/kaffla/.
About KAFFNY & KAFFLA:
Founded in 2006, KAFFNY is the first and only film festival in New York City to showcase the diversity of Korean American and Korean diaspora. Since then, KAFFNY programming has evolved and expanded to showcase a diversity of perspectives, local and global.
KAFFNY continues to showcase an expanding diversity of perspectives, create community dialogues, broaden its focus on emerging filmmakers, Korean and Korean American filmmakers, and support and present global cinema. KAFFNY also presents and support work by fine artists and musicians who follow the mission of the festival. KAFFNY has also presented programs globally, including Los Angeles, Seoul, Korea and St. Petersburg, Russia.
Kathryn Schroeder, Promotional Materials, 2012, News, Coming Soon, Film Festival, Foreign Film, Independent Film, Events, Los Angeles