After thoughts - Ultimate Christian Wrestling : KAFFNY 2012

(Directors - Tara Autovino & Jae-Ho Chang) - Photo credit: mr c


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Attending the ULTIMATE CHRISTIAN WRESTLING screening and Q&A session last night at KAFFNY brought a nice celebratory blessing & send off for the film. It’s no secret that the collective efforts of Unseen Films and Planet Chocko have rallied in favor of UCW with reviews we posted at Unseen here and at PC here. Mondocurry also had a wonderful & revealing chat with the directors of the film: Jae-Ho Chang and Tara Autovino. Their conversation can be read here. The interview provided great insight on the film which made us appreciate the vibe and the drive of the movie even more.

I can’t speak on behalf of DB and Mondocurry but seeing Ultimate Christian Wrestling on the big screen siphoned you into the vortex of the characters even more so. Watching the online screener for press purposes is one thing, but when the lives of these rural folks who are poor financially but rich with body, faith, & mind as well as possessing a sense of humor which started to unfold in front of your eyes in the theater, you can’t help but start to cheer for them! The passion of the characters really bled through the screen. The directors did a tremendous job in gaining trust from the cast which allowed them to open up to the camera. What I loved about the film was that there seemed to be a true human element in the story. It made you want to connect with Billy’s son Kody and even Justin’s brother - Matthew. On another side note, the online screener that the press were presented with seemed to be an edited version different from the one we saw at KAFFNY. There were definitely some more silly, but touching scenes involving Kody and his chubby friend and other more personable interactions between the cast that didn’t add meat to the story but provided you with a sense of being more emotionally connected to the film. I am not going to rehash any of the Q&A specifics because Mondocurry’s private interview with Jae & Tara was pretty much spot on with what went down publicly with the Q&A at the Anthology Film Archives last night. I will add that through the tone of their voices and body language, the directors were very genuine if not a bit emotional about their subjects/characters/friends that they had spent 3 years with in filming UCW in Georgia. They had developed a trusting relationship with the main cast: Rob, Justin, & Billy as well as spend time with their families without video cameras in tow. Tara Autovino made a very inspirational and tell-tale statement about the UCW guys:

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“I see a lot of myself in Matthew -- Justin’s younger brother in that sort of teenage questioning phase with being an agnostic and atheist and I sort of went through that whole path. I don’t necessarily agree with what they are doing in terms of their specific beliefs but then again we are all entitled to our own beliefs. But the UCW guys never bothered to ask us once what ours were. They didn’t ask us if we were christian or whether that we were on the boat with them. They didn’t care about that. Being with them and being around guys that have very specific beliefs while being open minded and being accepting of other types of people was very helpful for me to be able to see that so that I can incorporate that into my life.”


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Some other interesting questions from the audience at the Q&A prompted these answers: the directors of the film mentioned that the members of UCW did not get a chance to see the film yet. They just finished editing the film for release at KAFFNY. They want to schedule a screening in Georgia but figured the pseudo-intellectual crowd in New York might be a good testing bed -- Joke, I think coming from NYU film graduates!

The question was posed to the directors if they were taking UCW to other film festival screenings. Tara and Jae responded that they have applied to 10 or 11 film festivals and all but one have rejected the film. The film festival directors have mentioned that they are rooting for the film but maybe the timing of the religious/sports theme films have passed their prime or have gone past the window of time? On that note, we really enjoyed Ultimate Christian Wrestling and we are rooting for the success of the film for what it’s worth. We thought the story translated very well onto the screen - thanks to the two directors! We wish Jae good luck with his next project, a short film and Tara’s next project is to take a much needed vacation!

A non review of Perhaps, Somewhere (2012) KAFFNY 2012

Final film of this year's Korean American Film Festival New York is a too dull to review. A great looking film that feels like a meaningful film school project.

The Festival write up describes it as follows:
Auteur debut film from Arts Institute of Chicago alumn demonstrates impressive mise-en-scene sensibility. Two lonely souls navigate through their isolated past and present in uncharacteristic landscapes of the Midwest, searching for a sense of home. In meeting, they forge a brief and close bond, learning to understand themselves and one another, wondering where they will go next. Directed by Brian Oh

I describe it as a bunch of non-actors wandering through a story that was written by someone who wants to show how much like Bergman, Tarkovsky, Fellini or some other great director he is. It looks good, but its boring and pretentious.

Sorry guys I have no (good) words for it. I only hope that perhaps somewhere there is a good version of the film.

Ultimate Christian Wrestling: The Interview (KAFFNY 2012)

Ultimate Christian Wrestling (reviewed here by DB) may sound like the title of a fantastical journey, but is in fact a well told, grounded documentary.   At its core are the passions and struggles of a few very decent and upstanding guys.  On Friday, directors  Jae-Ho Chang and Tara Autovino shared their film with an audience for the first time at its world premiere as part of the 2012 Korean American Film Festival in NY, where it hopefully turned a good amount of heads and garnered some much deserved attention. What follows is a conversation I had with both Jae-Ho and Tara about the time they spent in Georgia making the film, the process of making the documentary, and their ideas about integrity filmmaking, as well as shedding some additional light on the unique phenomena that they came to know as Ultimate Christian Wrestling.  

MondoCurry: How did you discover UCW?

Jae-Ho: It was on the radio.  I heard it one morning.  During the sports section they were talking about what happened that night, and then at the very end, as a joke they mentioned, ‘oh also there is this group that wrestles for Jesus.’ I thought that was a pretty bizarre concept.  At that time we were both going to grad school.  We worked on projects together and we had similar interests.  So I ran it by Tara and she did some more research, found a couple of places, what was it, South Carolina….?

Tara: There’s one in North Carolina, one in Texas, and one in Georgia that we ended up following.  I think we wanted to follow them for a couple of reasons.  They weren’t too slick but they weren’t amateurs. They were definitely pro wrestlers.  That was a nice place to be and then also when I called Rob who is the founder of UCW, he was so friendly and he was like ‘sure come on down’ and he had no idea who we were.  We just told him we were grad students at NYU and interested in finding out more.  He invited us down there and we went and we ended up spending 3 years of our lives off and on, shooting.

MC: What got you most interested in the subject?  Have either of you ever been fans of wrestling or was it the religious aspect of what they were doing?

Jae-Ho: It was just this bizarre concept. We were both into that sort of subculture.  That was kind of our initial attraction. Let’s try to capture this.  Then after spending 3 years with them it became something different.

MC: The title of the film suggests something that could be very outlandish but the story you presented is a pretty subdued one. Did your plan of approaching the subject change along the way?

Jae-Ho: We as filmmakers felt that it’s such a shallow film if you just focus on the bizarre concept, and you can’t really make a feature film just based on that.  We wanted to make a film that people can relate to...Or even people like us coming from the metropolitan area having a preconceived notion of who these people are … And then when we got to know them we changed our perspective on who they are.  We felt that as responsible filmmakers, that is the kind of film we want to make.  It’s too easy to make fun of these people.  It becomes like a reality show.  We tried to present our experience of realizing wow, these people are not who we think they are.  Let’s try to create a film where people have these expectations and then they would change their perspective.  It’s almost like our personal journey of how we experienced hanging out with them for 3 years.  It’s what we wanted to show on the big screen.

Tara: That’s pretty much why we kept the title of the film the way we kept it: Because when you hear that title, you have all sorts of notions of what kind of film that could be.  Most of them are probably over the top or negative, and when we reveal the world slowly, it’s exactly how we experienced it.  So there’s that title and the shows and then it starts getting into the details of how much we are actually like them.   

Jae-Ho: People wanted us to change the title because they were like ‘we expected one thing and it wasn’t about that.  Maybe call it Ultimate Christian Wrestlers…’  But we felt like the title sort of serves the same function as the film, as in people have these expectations of what it is going to be and then it’s something else.

Tara: And it’s very symbolic of people judging other people based on superficial observations, what they look like, where they’re from, how they sound, the title of something…It’s a very don’t judge a book by its cover sort of thing.  I can judge people based on what they look like and this was very much a practice of learning to find the similarities between us and them.  Instead of it being an us and them thing, it’s about what we have in common.

MC: Do you have any religious experiences or beliefs that you were reminded of?  Were any of them challenged by what you experienced when making the film?

Tara: I think one of the strengths of working on this project together is that we both come from very different religious backgrounds, both Christian based but very different.  I had a very negative experience growing up and was mainly dismissive as a teenager.  I wanted to study philosophy and I was really anti-religion when I was in my early 20’s.

Jae-Ho: For me, growing up being Korean I was pretty much born into Christianity.  I had a good experience growing up being Christian.  It was not a choice so it was a natural thing for me to go to Church on Sundays with my family.  When I was in college, I felt like I could make a choice now if I want to go or believe these things. So it was a good thing when we were filming that we had these opposite points of view. That helped to balance the context of what we have in the film.

MC:  When you saw the live events did anything strike you as offensive or go against your sensibilities on Christianity?

Jae Ho:  In the beginning it was really bizarre because of the fact that it’s a very violent sport and with Christianity, you don’t think of that.  Once I got over that, it was pretty inspiring.  I think they do a really smart thing because when you watch these wrestling shows, you get really revved up when you’re watching, and that continues with the whole religious aspect of it.  And they use the people’s emotions to channel that into Christianity and try to convert people.  I can see why people get so into it because they’re really passionate about wrestling in the South and then also Christianity and just combining those two and taking advantage of those emotions people are feeling at a wrestling show…I can see the direction that they’re going.  And Rob is such a cult of personality and very convincing when he talks. To me it was very inspiring in a way.

MC:  Both Billy Jack and Justin always appear very positive in dealing with their struggles.  Did they always have such a strong optimism when you were around them?

Tara: Throughout the film they did.  They attribute it to their faith and I attribute it to their faith.  No matter what we agree or disagree on in terms of belief systems, they have something that gets them up in the morning and motivates them to make positive changes in their lives and for other people.    All they want to do is help other people and so you  can’t really judge people if they’re trying to do good. Who am I to say what’s right or what’s wrong.  It’s really moving to me when people are able to go through hardship and have faith that it’s going to change and that it’s going to get better.  It’s really inspiring.

Jae-Ho: Because I used to live in Korea, and then in high school I came here and moved in with my aunt, I could relate to what Justin was going through living with another family and you kind of have to watch your behavior, tiptoe around because they’re doing you a favor.  Also what I’d like to talk about is the theme of what I have discovered through the film is people who take chances to better their lives, which is something we all strive to do.  For me that is the biggest fear of trying something out:  Watching it fail. For them to do that is very inspirational to me.  That for me was the personal journey I went through when I watch the film.  I’m exorcising my demons through them as they’re taking these chances.

Tara:  And it’s not like these chances all turned out so great.  It’s not like they necessarily knew where they were going to end up by this point in the film.  Justin had different or higher hopes.  They all had higher hopes.   I think Jae-Ho’s pointing to the most important thing, which is that they took the chance, that they’re trying and they’ll continue to try.  Dreams don’t always look the way you think they’re going to when you arrive at them.  Once you achieve them, usually they don’t feel the way you think they’re going to feel.  

Jae-Ho:  Like you said, because they’re religious they can put a positive spin on these situations.

Tara: Right, like Rob when he says ‘I guess this is not what we’re supposed to be doing anymore.’  That’s such a great way to look at things instead of wallowing in the negative.  He’s just living his life to the fullest, which is inspiring.

MC:  Were there aspects of their personal stories that you wanted to show more of but were, for whatever reason, prevented from doing?

Tara:  That’s hard to answer because, since this was a documentary, we don’t really know what we’re following when we’re following it.  In the end we look at all this footage and it is what it is.  That’s just how life went.  And I could probably think of things where it’s like “wouldn’t it be cool if this happened,” but I think we did a pretty good job.  There’s plenty of other stuff we chose to omit based on privacy out of respect for the wrestlers, so I think what we have I’m pretty satisfied with.

Jae-Ho:  Yeah some stuff we were like, it’s great, and it’s controversial and people are gonna like it or be interested in it, but we didn’t want to exploit these characters.  I don’t think that’s the kind of film we want to make.

Tara: There are certain things that, as documentary filmmakers following people’s very personal moments, we feel like we’re crossing a boundary.  Even though that boundary has been signed away in writing, it’s our personal belief that everyone deserves the right to privacy…Even if they are participating in a documentary.

Jae-Ho: We didn’t want to sensationalize some of that stuff.  It’s the easy way to go if you go that way but we chose not to.

Tara: and it’s definitely the harder way to go.  Which we’re very happy with, but it’s a very subtle film.  It’s kind of intentionally subtle.

MC:  You met and filmed a lot of different wrestlers who probably weren’t used to being in front of a camera.  What were their various reactions to being filmed?

Jae-Ho:  We knew that coming from NY, they were going to be very guarded because they’re doing such a bizarre thing.  And they were in the beginning.  But Tara and I knew it was going to be a process if you want to make a great film about these people’s lives.  So we would go there, not always with a camera, and hang out with them, spend holidays with them, eat with them, and that’s how you slowly build the trust.  That we knew going into this project.  It was hard.  There were moments where they didn’t owe us anything so they would completely not even call us back.   So, we would have to wait around.  We would have to convince them:  Hey we’re doing this thing, please let us in to what you’re doing.  There were struggles.  We lucked out that they were into it and eventually felt natural in front of the camera.

Tara: That process took nine months of interacting with them and having the camera in front of them until they really started to let down their guard.

Jae-Ho:  Thank God we had the wrestling to shoot because we were focusing on that in the beginning and then we had the behind the scenes stuff.  And that’s a gradual process and they get used to that.  And then we go ‘can we come to your home and shoot some of that?’ It’s kind of apparent in the film where we talk to Cody, when he talks about his mom.

MC: The film makes it clear that the shows were all done for free and not for any kind of profit.  How did they manage to fund things?

Jae-Ho: Was it donations?  They had a concession stand…

Tara:  There were donations. They had a concession stand.  For a time they were getting some funding from various churches in the area who thought what they were doing was interesting so they got some support from that.  But ultimately, that’s why they had to stop:  Because financially, they couldn’t keep it together.


MC: Over the course of three years, do you know how many of the live events you went to?

Jae-Ho:  We were all over Georgia, then Alabama…ten.

MC:  Was that all of the live events that they had during that time?

Jae-Ho:  They had more.  They had one every weekend.

Tara:  We followed their shows and then, when some of them went on the indie circuit, we would follow that. If there was nothing going on some of them would go to the indie circuit.

Jae-Ho: Secular shows.  That’s what surprised us because they would go to these shows that would take about 2 hours to drive to and they would be in this match for about ten minutes and that’s it.  And they would still love doing it.  They were really passionate about wrestling.

MC:  This is a question more for you, Jae-Ho.  As you watch the film it seems like it’s not an ethnically diverse area you are shooting in.  Did your being Korean American cause any guarded or otherwise challenging reactions at first?

Jae-Ho:  I think I would get more racial comments here than there.  Because people are very polite there…Well, one kid called me ‘Jap’ there.  But not like in an offensive way.  I think that’s just what he had heard at home.  But being a minority, it was OK. I feel like Asians are nonthreatening to people, right? Asians as a race are like perceived as nonthreatening, docile people.

MC:  Did you set some rules for yourselves, being away from the usual comforts of home? Did you want to force yourselves to stick certain parts of the experience out?

Tara:  We spent the summer of 2007 there completely living out of extended stay hotels.

Jae: It was more budgetary reasons that forced us to do that.  Remember we got that cabin in the mountains?

Tara:  We got this cabin in the mountains which was a little bit too remote for us.  We had to do things like…We had to get a gym membership because you don’t walk at all.  You drive everywhere.  Especially in the more suburban areas, it’s not set up for walking so we had to get exercise…

Jae-Ho: Because of the food you eat.  And all the iced tea...

Tara: Yeah, so we had to make some lifestyle adjustments while we were there.  Although we were thoroughly enjoying the cuisine while we were there.

Jae-Ho: They don’t drink water there.  It’s iced tea.

Tara:  And it’s sweetened ice tea.  So much sugar. The eating part was pretty shocking and the lack of mobility was kind of hard to adjust to.

MC:  Have you kept in touch with the guys in the film and do you know what any of them are up to now?   

Jae-Ho:  On and off. Facebook helps. Cody is in high school.  He’s still wrestling.  Billy Jack retired and he became a nurse.  He’s always changing his occupation.  He studied to become a nurse and he became a nurse.  Then he went back to wrestling.  And now he’s into car racing.  Justin is overseas a lot.  He’s on a boat a lot because he’s in the Navy.  Rob, I believe he’s still teaching.  He’s a special ed teacher.

MC:  Did having this experience affect your future plans? Do you feel like there is more to this story, or some theme from this story, you’d like to explore further or are you ready to close the chapter on Ultimate Christian Wrestling?

Tara:  I’m ready to do something else and my tendency is always to go towards more rural areas and Christian related themes.  But before I do that, I’m going to try and challenge myself with something else.

Jae-Ho:  To me I like Asian American stories and this is more outside of what I usually do.  I would never go down to Georgia and film in rural areas, but it was a great experience.   But it’s been 7 years so it’s probably time to do something else.

MC: Did doing this film leave you wanting to do more documentary work?

Jae-Ho:  This is our first feature and we’re both trained narrative fiction film makers.  Since this is our first feature, we’re kind of perceived as documentary filmmakers.  I realize it’s the same thing. You’re still telling stories.  I like docs because writing is really painful for me and lonely.  Documentaries are great because you go and you start shooting and you’re part of the environment.  Like I said, you get to go to new places.  I’d like to continue to do both…And it’s all about creating compassionate characters… and docs are great. It’s almost like you do research when you shoot docs.  You get to go live in places and hang out with people that you don’t know and you get to see how they behave.  And that all feeds into if you’re going to write for a character.  Those experiences all help.  I’m afraid to be pigeonholed as  a documentary filmmaker but I want to pursue both.

MC:  As far as topics for another documentary, do any jump to your mind?

Jae-Ho:  There are so many.  When I read the newspaper I like to save certain articles that seem like they will be great stories.  The one I want…I don’t know if I have the guts to do it yet…is about the hazing in the army.  I think there were two Korean Americans, or they were Asian American soldiers who got hazed, and ended up committing suicide.  It happened twice.  If they were not Asian Americans, would I have done it? Probably not.  Something about a person being Asian American, being bullied, there is a kind of emotional attachment that I feel when I hear that story.  So that is something I’m kind of toying with…If I am going to do something next for documentary.

Click here to read an unedited version of the transcript.

Me on twitter = @mondocurry

Girl Walk// All Day at White Box KAFFNY 2012

June 6th D-Day.

68 years ago it was the invasion of Europe.

This year it was a wild dance party at White Box on the fringes of New York’s Chinatown.

The occasion was a special screening of Girl Walk//All Day that was being hosted by the Korean American Film Festival New York. It was absolutely a blast.

If you’ve been reading the blog you already know that I love the film. If you read Planet Chock Zine you know that Mr C also loves the film. Grabbing Chocko we all headed down for the screening.

Outside we met Brian of The Film Panel Notetaker. Brian’s someone I’ve been conversing with on line for a while now and it was nice to finally meet him and have face to put with a name.

White Box is a gallery that had been stripped of all of the art. As we walked into the gallery music videos were being projected on three of the walls. It was a mix of animation, actual music videos and things that Girl Walk director Jacob Krupnick had put together, including what he said was essentially Anne Marsen's audition for Girl Walk. If you thought she could dance in the film, you'll be truly amazed by what she does here.

Speaking of Jacob, I went over and introduced myself to him. We talked for a bit about the screening, the videos and a few other things, including who was the worse pool player.

I then moved up front with C and Chocko where we took up a place along one wall near one of the speakers. They pointed out that Charlie Ahern who directed the ground breaking cultural earthquake Wild Style was in the house. I was impressed since the film had a profound influence on many people I know in how they danced and what music they listened to.

As the videos ended, Jacob and his lovely wife and producer Youngna Park were introduced. They introduced the film by explaining that owing to the nature of the film’s soundtrack the film will never get a real commercial release. They said that they found that the unconventional screening method that has resulted from that, it's shown in galleries and open spaces, worked best since it allowed for multiple projections, which made audience interaction and participation easier. Since everyone isn’t looking the same way we were free to talk, to drink and to dance…

I won’t go into the movie itself. I’ve done that, instead I’ll talk about the experience.

For me seeing the film as a continuous film instead of in 12 parts as it is on line was special. Seeing how each bit flowed seamlessly into the next was a revelation. Seeing it as a continuous film makes it something more special. You really get into the story more since it all keeps going.

Seeing the film projected all around me, as big as 12 feet high, was awesome in the truest sense of the word. Here was the action happening right before me (and to my side and behind me...) Additionally seeing the film that big revealed all sorts of things, background details and facial expressions I never knew were there when I watched it repeatedly on my lap top.

And of course the thumping beat of the score sounded great. I love how it drives everything forward…and drives everyone in the audience to bop and dance along.

Watching the audience interact with the film was really cool. As the film started everyone was just standing talking and drinking. A few moments in some people were bopping or nodding their heads. A few more moments later the dancing started, just a few people here and there. As the film played, more and more people began to dance. By the end almost everyone were dancing or if not moving to the music.

Down at one end of the gallery where the largest projection was, a large group of dancers were really going to town in a dance circle with everyone taking turns in the center, and some people competing with others.

I stopped watching the movie and started watching the interactions of the dancers to the film and each other.

It was amazing.

While I’m not a dancer I was swaying to the music and tapping in time on the wall. Occasionally I was singing along, thankfully my off keyvoice was drown out by the loud music.

Even Mr C and the normally staid Chocko were moving to the music.

The three of us didn’t really talk to each other much, we all watched the film and the dancers though occasionally we’d talk about a sequence that we liked, but mostly we watched and swayed.

When the credits rolled everyone applauded.

There was an attempt at a Q&A after the film but everyone seemed to be more interested in continuing to dance. After John Doyle who plays the Creep was introduced, they decided to chuck the Q&A and play the film again which brought applause.

Sadly, I had to leave. Heading to the door, I reconnected with Brian who started to introduce me to several people (sorry I forgot your names), I made my excuses and then moved toward the exit, I thought I was followed by Brian, but he had stopped to talk to some people and got lost in conversation.

Catching up with C and Chocko I found them at the front door taking to Charlie Ahern. They introduced me to him and then they made some plans to connect with him down the road. We then headed out, me to my train and the Planet Chocko boys to their car.

I had a blast. I know they had a blast too.

This is the way to experience Girl Walk, larger than life in sound and fury, and with enough room to dance around. Actually seeing the film this way is a completely different experience to seeing it on the lap top. Seeing it big the film connects to you and the people around you on a visceral level. Seeing the film as a film, its very much a more conventional, and equally valid experience that tugs the heart strings in different way.

Seeing it live is is to live it.

Seeing it as a film is to feel it.

I’m explaining it badly but I think you know what I mean.

I had a blast.

If and when you get a chance to see this projected do so. (you can see it now by going to the Girl Walk website).

Thank you KAFFNY for bringing to the film to my attention and arranging the screening. You guys and gals rock.

Pok Dong KAFFNY 2012

If they are going to destroy things, burn things down, hurt somebody, you aren't going to hurt just that one person, you are going to hurt their whole family....In the Middle East these soldiers are dying. It's not just that one soldier dying, that's not the problem. All the peole in his family- his mother,father,wife,children, all the people around him are also damaged. The pain will never disappear. Most people try to move on but they keep the pain in their hearts. - Alex Ko's father

Part of the KAFFNY look at the LA Riots 20 years later.

The film is the story of filmmaker Alex Ko's family and how the LA Riots altered their lives.

This excellent short film (it runs about 25 minutes) covers a great deal of ground. Ko, in looking at his family and the riots digs deeply into his family history, learning not only why his family came to the United States, but also what it takes to be an immigrant in this country. The film then turns to the fateful day when rioters swarmed through Los angels burning and looting and how the destruction of their business sent shock waves through the family. It also shows how the family, eventually came back together.

The strength of the film is that this is a story that is kind of universal. Sure not all of us are immigrants, but are families were at some point, and the need to strive for something better that we all can relate to. And while most of us were not directly affected by the LA Riots we've all been affected by some form of tragedy or even disaster that completely upset our lives or the lives of people we know.

Ultimately its the story of a family knocked about but still standing. Its the story of how family can pull us back from the brink. Its a story that will give you hope.

Recommended.

Another small gem screening at KAFFNY,

Magic and Loss (2010) KAFFNY 2012

Co-presented at KAFFNY with the Japan Society this is a strange film that is either going to enthrall you or make you crazy.

The basic plot has a Korean woman and a Japanese woman going to an island off the coast of Hong Kong. They are traveling separately but both arrive at the resort together. The sign at the desk says that the place is full, however the clerk finds rooms for each of them. Actually despite the sign the place seems to be empty, except for the pair. They then wander the island and bond...

After that I'm not too sure. Not a great deal happens and when it does I don't know if it's entirely clear what it is. I don't say that to infer that the film is bad, only that the film is cryptic in the extreme. I got to the end and found I was searching the web for clues as to what I just saw.

I should also point out that the film kind of slows down a bit too much in the middle. The film is very much trying to create a mood and set up what it's getting at, but it makes for a bit too much repetition. In reading on the film I realize why this is the case, basically the film was largely improvised. While this allows for some good things it also results in a film that seems to be, in retrospect, more a first draft rather than a finished piece.

As I said at the top you'll either love this or hate it. I like. It's the sort of puzzle box that has me guessing. While it's certainly not a great film, I do think it's a good one, though very minor one. Definitely worth a look for those feeling in an undemanding cryptic mood.

Should've Kissed (2010) KAFFNY 2012

The promotional material for the film, even from the filmmakers, talks about how Jun, the lead starer, talks to a poster of Taxi Driver as if it’s a major motif in the film. It occurs only once about five minutes into the film (though dialog from the film is quoted through out). I’m guessing that it’s mentioned because that after the scene anyone who is watching the film was dead asleep.

Good looking artistic trash film of extreme close-ups, silences and monologues is a film where we watch people stare into space, recite dialog from other places and in one wild scene eat apples while sitting on a bench that looks at the Manhattan sky line.

Nothing much happens, and when it does it never goes anywhere.

The film opens with our object of veneration (Jinoh Park the writer/director who is clearly in love with himself owing to how much we just stare at his face in close up) singing a song from Chicago. He then leaves his apartment, goes to visit a friend who sits and talks at him. (This, like 95% of the film is told is single static shots, each representing a complete scene)

We watch a woman try to pick some one up, which turns out to be an audition, but when it goes the way she doesn’t like she leaves and ends upon the sidewalk distraught.

Jun, sees her and asks her if she is okay. They go off together.

They wander and say nothing.

They sit on a bench and loudly crunch apples.

He sings a song in silhouette.

She packs a suitcase.

They have dinner. She talks, he doesn’t.

They wander.

Somewhere, some how, they end up in an apartment (I don’t know exactly I was fighting to stay awake) where some one juggles, she sleeps on the couch and later she quotes dialog.

He ends up walking the street. He stops. After along while he sits and counts “summers”(One summer , two summer…) and then stares at something off screen. He stares for a long time. Fade to black. Cue Regina Spektor song and end credits which run over 8 minutes.(After Regina Spektor they play a Sigur Ros song).

Yes, I watched the entire end credits- TWICE. Why? Because there was more motion in those 8 minutes then there was more motion than in the previous 71.(And the music was pretty good too)

Jinoh Park is described in some of the promotional material as an auteur. He’s made this feature and a couple of shorts and he’s an auteur? Bull shit. You know what an auteur is don’t you? A director who makes boring movies no one would watch unless they are sold to suckers as meaningful. (Actually the film is an auteur debut, how do you debut as an auteur if you haven't made a film)

I can't stress this enough: this movie is boring.

It’s so boring that a couple of times I started to search the web while watching. I could do this because so little happens, even visually, that odds are if you looked away to say check your email (or bake a cake), that when you looked back things will be exactly as you left them. I got to the point where I looked up when there was a sound change. Even during the monologues things are static shots. To get through the film all you need to do is play Angry Birds on your phone and listen… I mean there are no reaction shots during monologue scenes… and even if there were it would be pointless, since, with rare exception, the two leads play things with stony expressions on their faces.

It looks more like portraiture then cinema.

Things would be okay if there was a way to decipher motivation and emotion through the stares, but as I said everyone is stony so there are no visual clues. Frankly Buster Keaton, the great Stone Face, emotes more than these people. Then again we could watch his body language, something we are expressly denied by the constant, eternal facial close-ups.

This film should be given out as a non-addictive means to end insomnia.

I stayed to the end because I couldn’t believe that KAFFNY was screening this. There had to be some AH HA moment at the end. I mean I had seen 4 other films from the festival and enjoyed them…there had to be a reason this was being run at the festival…

I’ll be damned to know what it is other than the writer/director/star is Korean and it’s set in New York.

Looking at the promotional material this film appears to have screened in 2010 at a festival in Korea and never again until now. I completely understand why.

I hate ripping this film apart. It does look good (even if it’s static). The performances under other circumstances would be quite good. Even the monologues are well written. The problem is the self absorbed package and the pacing don’t work. It’s long and draggy and there is no clue to much of anything about Kun. I suspect that this came from a screenplay that explained a great deal of motivation and actions in a way that never translated to the screen. As it stands now this is 15 or 20 minute film not a 71 minute one (The official run time of 80 minutes includes the 9 minute end credits)

Avoid this one

Dirty Hands: the Life and Crimes of David Choe (2010) KAFFNY

Harry Kim's masterful documentary on artist David Choe is a must see for anyone who wants to see how an artist creates. It's also a must see for anyone who wants to see a damn fine documentary.

Kim is Choe's best friend and so was given unprecedented access to Choe and his art. Beginning in 2000 and continuing until 2008 Kim went along with Choe as he traveled the world, pained, committed crimes, did time and simply lived his life. Over the course of ten years (the film has footage shot prior to the actual filmmaking) we watch as Choe goes from a poor suburban kid who wanted nothing other than be an artist to a world renown artist worth hundreds of millions of dollars (apparently the stock he took in Facebook in lieu of payments for murals has netted him hundreds of millions of dollars in the recent IPO)

Interviews with Choe over the course of filming is supplemented with interviews with friends and family who add commentary and details to all of the things Choe has done in is thirty six year long life.

I'm really impressed. I'm writing this review after seeing the film for the first time, but I'm ready to dive back in. There is simply too much to grasp in one viewing with not only Choe's life, but his art work flashing by at a good clip. Choe is, if nothing else prolific and the camera records a good amount of his out put. The film's structure, its culled from years of filming, also requires a second or third viewing because it's not until late in the film that you begin to realize that there are essentially different David Choes, one from before his stay in a Japanese prison and one afterward. Yes the wildness in Choe after prison, but its something he seeks to channel into things less likely to put him back behind bars.

For me the joys of the film are numerous, from the joys of the filmmaking, as wild and wanton as the artist himself; there is the artist,as grand a character as you can imagine; and there is the art, rough and raw and as a live as anything you're ever likely to see. the mixture makes for a heady emotional film that seems to outshine the much loved Exit Through the Gift Shop about Banksy simply because we know its all real.

I really love this film a great deal. Finding a treasure such as this is a real joy and it's one of the reasons I love to attend film festivals. This is one of the finds of the year.

The film is playing at KAFFNY on June 7th at 930pm. If you can go I highly suggest you do so.

Ultimate Christian Wrestling (2012) KAFFNY 2012

A small scale gem.

While this isn't going to make my best of the year list, on the other hand I suspect that this film's unexpected pleasure will be remembered when so many other films have fallen by the wayside.

Jae Ho Chang and Tara Autovino went to Georgia to film what they thought was a ridiculous expression of faith, a mixture of professional wresting and preaching. What they got was a portrait of three men who aren't as ridiculous as the way they choose to spread their faith. Its a portrait that worms its way into your heart and gently breaks it.

Christian Wrestling is a barnstorming group of guys who combine pro wrestling moves with heartfelt preaching of the word of god. They are not connected to any church and do what they do out of their own desire to preach. The cost of the shows is purely donation based- and based on the turn outs the donations are sparce, to say the least. Actually thigs are bad not only for the UCW but also the men who wrestle in it.

Rob Adonis is the brains behind Ultimate Christian Wrestling. He credits God for putting the idea in his head to combine his love of wrestling and of the almighty.

Justin Dirt is a young man in his early twenties who lives with Rob. Justin dropped out of high school and then went back to school to get his diploma. He love wrestling but knows that he's going to have to find something to get his life back on track

Billy Jack is the UCW champion. He's a sweet guy who hoped that after high school to become a pro wrestler, but it never happened and he instead works doing home repairs. To say that he's having a tough time is an understatement.

If you're looking for wrestling look elsewhere. While the film does have bits of some matches, the film is really more concerned with the men.

The film also shows us some of the theatrics in corporated into the matches. During one match Jesus takes the place of one wrestler and takes the blows of his enemies. In other matches Jesus appears and teaches one wrestler or another a lesson about faith. Weird it is. But its also heartfelt, especially when compared to the preaching done in a church that Justin takes his agnostic brother to.

The film is not preachy...either pro or anti. The film is simply a portrait of three guys that you'll come to like.

I really liked this film. It up ended my expectations and took me somewhere special. If you can let go of your pre-concieved notions of this is going to be silly, I recommend you give this a shot.

This is screening 6/8 and 6/10 at KAFFNY.

Girl Walk// All Day (2011) plus a report on my talk with director Jacob Krupnick KAFFNY 2012

You will either love this film or hate it--- Me? It makes me stupidly blissfully happy.
Let me say that again: This movie makes me stupidly blissfully happy.

Girl Walk // All Day is set to All Day, the album by mash-up musician Gregg Gillis (a.k.a. Girl Talk).

It begins in a ballet class where a young woman just isn't quite getting it. As the piano music falls away and becomes a few well known heavy metal chords (I'll leave you to find out what it is) she begins to dance. The dance is her own and it takes her out the door down the street on to the ferry to Manhattan. From there she and two men dance their way across the city.

Normally I don't like modern dance, or at best I find that a little goes a long way. However the mix of music, image and personality make this into something truly special. The dance here becomes what the best dance always is, simply a joyous expression of life. It may not be the type of dance I like, but here it's just an outward revelation of the the characters soul...its the sort of thing you might find these characters would do if they ever just burst out in dance.

While there are three dancers that we follow, there is actually a cast of thousands. Filmed on location, in what appears to be a controlled guerrilla style, this film has all of New York as co-stars. As some characters dance through the streets  they pass people everywhere. They dance through stores, parks, streets and malls. They interact with people, some of whom actually dance along. Mostly everyone ignores the dancers and the cameras- which is something that only happens in New York. If this was any other city there would have been crowds, and people staring, but here there is just a wonderful disinterest that makes this seem, oddly, real.

I LOVE THIS FILM.

I can't say anything beyond that because the film ultimately puts me somewhere past words. It's a teary giddy happy place of pure joy.

Seriously, it makes me stupidly mindlessly happy.  It is as pure an expression of joy as I have seen put on film.

It is also one of the best marriages of music to image as I've seen. How director Jacob Krupnick managed to do it without computer assist is as close to magic as you can get. Who needs computers? (not literally but you you know what I mean.)

If you want to feel good get to The White Box on Broome Street  in Manhattan Wednesday night at 8PM for the KAFFNY screening.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Jacob Krupnick, the director of Girl Walk a few days before Memorial Day right before the film was due to screen in Moscow. I had asked the people at KAFFNY if there was anyway I could have a few questions about the film answered. They contacted Jacob who said he would rather call me since some of what I wanted answered required more detailed answers.

What was supposed to be my asking him three or four simple questions started off with my babbling on about how much I liked the film. He seemed amused. I apologized and told him that I tend to refrain from speaking with filmmakers because if I don’t like their film I either want to take them to task or, more likely, I have nothing I’d want to talk to them about. On the other end of the spectrum if I like a film, especially one I like as much as Girl Walk, I will babble out my love until I calm down and finally talk like a human being and not a fan boy.

I eventually got past being a fanboy and we had a nice conversation.

Since the call was supposed to be a couple of questions and not a full on interview I didn’t record the conversation which ended up about being 25 minutes long. What I found out really impressed me. As I said to Mr Krupnick, I know New York City, or at least pretty much every place where he filmed, and as a result I could imagine what he had to do to make the film.

What follows are the details about the filming I gleened from our conversation. You'll forgive the spotty nature of the information I was only suppose to ask a couple of quick questions. Also as I said to Jacob, I didn't want to pull the film completely part, sequence by sequence and thus completely wreck the film and it's magic by knowing all the secrets of how it was done.

The film was funded by a Kickstarter campaign. Seeking to raise around four thousand dollars they managed to raise six times that amount.

Jacob wrote a rough script that stretched to 25 pages. This amazed me since the film seems so simple. I was told it had to be "long" since it had rough outline of the story, and details of each character. However while there were certain guidelines at the start, the dancers themselves tweaked and fine tuned the characters themselves to be more like they saw the person they were playing.

What happened after a certain point was improvised. Jacob knew what he wanted but because they were wandering into the wilds of New York they walked around looking for happy accidents. The film is full of them. Despite the improvisation and the accidents everything that happened pretty much followed what was intended, with the sole exception being the Yankee Stadium sequence. The sequence's outcome, our heroine being ejected from the stadium, was not planned , rather it was the most happy of accidents because it was something they could never plan, but it required a rewrite of what happened next. (The beginning, on the Staten Island Ferry, and the end, in Central Park, were not changed at all)

The film was just shot in a truly guerilla style. No permits were obtained, the cast and crew simply showed up (often in the wee hours of the morning as in the case of the fan dance) and went for it. What you saw was what happened. Because you can't shoot video in Yankee Stadium the sequence was shot using SLR digital cameras that look like still cameras.

The crew was usually Jacob with a steady cam, the dancers and another camera person. The music was played via I-pod and boom box held by whom ever was closest, usually Jacob. The volume was as loud as they could get away with- which was often not that loud. Some times nothing was used with the dancers keeping time in their heads, other times a beat box was used. Even though you wouldn't think it possible, most of the dancing on location was to the music that is heard in the finished film.

Jacob is amazed by his dancers and what they could do. The man who breaks off from the fan dancers is one of the best dancers Jacob had ever seen. He said that he didn't like that we didn't get see what he, and the other dancers could really do.

The parade sequence was shot at the Dance Parade. Jacob had seen the parade the year before shooting and thought it would be perfect oppurtunity to try and shoot a story within a real event. It took Jacob a couple of months to work with them and get them to allow him to shoot in the parade.

Jacob also let me know that the film is changing.The end of the movie is going to have a new piece of music as a closer, Rostum from Vampire Weekend's song Wood, rights to which which were just secured.

Now that the final piece of music has been added DVDs are being made of the film for eventual release.

And while I have seen the film a couple of times now, Jacob has seen the film 40 times this year alone. He told me he finds he likes to just put it on and listen to it. I can completely unserstand that, and perhaps I'll go do that now.

Sunday Nightcap 5/20/12 My year of the musical, KAFFNY approaches, Dark Shadows Battleship and a link to a piece on Chronicle

This is turning into the Year of the Musical for me. Four of my favorite films of the year are music related.

Inni and Heima are concert films from the group Sigur Ros and have be come my go to films when I just want to chill out. Forget CDs or I-Pods I just go home and throw in one of the films and listen to that as I do chores or work on the blog. Actually I’m listening too much to them since I’m not watching anything else putting future posts in danger of not happening for lack of material. (Heima will be getting a review shortly)

Searching for Sugar Man is the film about Rodriguez that played Tribeca. It’s a film that is truly magical and turned me into a fan of Rodriguez. The fact that I actually got to meet the man and sit with him is nothing compared to just being able to now listen to his once under appreciated songs.

Girl Walk// All Day is a new treasure. Playing the Korean American Film Festival New York (KAFFNY), this is a joyous happy film about three people dancing their way across Manhattan. Driven by Girl Talk’s All Day album this is mashed-up dance trip across the city by a wonderful mash up album. The film is playing at the festival on June 6 at 8PM at White Space and it’s something that you’ll want to see on a big screen with big sound. I’m guessing that the audience won’t be seated for very long. (A review will follow shortly- I'm due to speak with the director tomorrow)

At this point I need to point out that with May rapidly running out it’s almost time for two film festivals to fill the first weeks of June.

The Brooklyn Film Festival starts June 1st and runs to the 10th. I’m planning on hitting a few films during the early days of the festival and I suggest you do too. Details and tickets here.

KAFFNY overlaps Brooklyn during the second half of the week starting June 5 and running to the 10th. Having already screened several of the titles I need to say you really need to be making an effort to attend. The films they are screening are for the most part excellent. While I will be running reviews closer to time, I'll tease you and say you really should make an effort to see Girl Walk// All Day (see above), and you should also try and see Ultimate Christian Wrestling. UCW was supposed to be a snide look at some people using wrestling to spread the word of god, instead it’s a moving portrait of three men trying to do their best to just get by. It’s a small treasure that will worm its way into your heart. As I said full reviews are coming. Get your tickets now, you want to be there. Info here.

You should make an effort to read Peter Gutierrez's two part piece on the film Chronicle and why we respond to it. I have a review in the cue of the film, but Peter'spiece  is  something more than a review and is light years beyond my piece, explaining the entire found footage genre beautifully. Part one is here and Part two is here.

I finally saw Dark Shadows last night. My bitching about Tim Burton seems to have been well founded. The man needs to be slapped up side the head, preferably with a large fish.

What the hell did he do? He has this great gothic horror movie that he keeps stopping for stupid humor. That's where I keep my macrame? Really?

The over produced prologue gives way to a moody opening on a train. Its absolutely amazing and shows what the film could have been. Then Victoria gets to Collinwood and it becomes a series of great sequences that end in a joke. It might have worked if the jokes were clever but they aren't.

I suppose I should be glad its not a a full on comedy since it would have been sub-Uwe Boll.

Earlier today I saw Battleship. It's another alien invasion story ala Skyline,War of the Worlds or Battle Los Angeles but set of Hawaii. Its also so much better than those films...at least the set pieces are.

The plot goes something along the lines of we send out a message to a far off planet and then they come and visit. Things happen and next thing you know we're at war. Into the mix add a slacker, with a heroic brother in love with the Admiral's daughter and you have an idea of how some of this is going to go.

The set up and some of the linking material isn't very good. Its beyond cliche, and if you missed the first 20 minutes of the film you could pick it up and not have missed anything. Once the action starts this film is gangbusters and it's easily the best of similar alien invasion stories over the last say five years. It works so well that even when the old salts end up recruited to help stem the alien invasion you're ready to go along with it (and of course it helps that they are great characters).

Did I need to see this in a theater. No. Did I have a good time. yes.

I think that's it for tonight. I'm sure there is more I could prattle on about but I won't. (Though you should try Beyond the Black Rainbow which has hit theaters and which is where it must be seen)

(This weeks films are a bunch of titles most of which I recently took a look at)

Korean American Film Festival New York June 5-10

Mr C has let me know that the Korean American Film Festival New York is happening at the Anthology film Archives June 5-10.

This is great since the last couple of years I've found out about either during it when I couldn't change my plans and go, or afterward when it was all over and done. The films they have shown have always been things I've wanted to see, and this year it's no exception.

This years slate is described in the press release as follows:

Now in its sixth year, the annual Korean American Film Festival New York (KAFFNY) is the first and only film festival in New York City showcasing the diversity of Korean American and Korean diasporic perspectives in film. Since its first annual festival in 2007, KAFFNY has continued to broaden its focus on emerging filmmakers to include international films by Korean and as well as non-Korean filmmakers.

This year, the program reflects the strong offerings in new Korean American filmmaking as well as cross-cultural Asian independent cinema. “We’re very proud to have so many premiere screenings of homegrown New York and American talent, and feel our filmmakers are now truly coming-of-age along with our festival,” says founder Dave Kim.

Hosted at Anthology Film Archives this year, KAFFNY presents New York audiences with a challenging and innovative mix of narrative features and documentaries with a strong focus on auteur-driven stories, and complex character studies, exploring such themes as loss and dislocation through journeys of discovery. KAFFNY also marks the 20th anniversary of the Los Angeles riots with a special free program of films, to also screen online for the duration of the festival.

Venue: Anthology Film Archives: 32 Second Avenue New York, NY 10003

KAFFNY’s opening night presentation is the International Premiere of SHOULD’VE KISSED, the debut feature of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts alumnus Jinoh Park who sets a new standard for independent auteurist Korean American filmmaking. Park directs and stars in this offbeat story of a lonely soul adrift in Manhattan’s dive-bar scene with another forlorn actor, having hallucinatory conversations with Robert De Niro on a movie poster of “Taxi Driver” by another NYU alumnus, Martin Scorsese.

Highlights include the world premiere of NYU alumns Jae-Ho Chang and Tara Autovino’s ULTIMATE CHRISTIAN WRESTLING in which skeptical New York filmmakers venture to rural Georgia to document the culture of a pro-wrestling Christian ministry, and return having learned some surprising and moving ways Americans use faith to guide them through dire personal and family circumstance.

The Japan Society co-presents MAGIC AND LOSS, an impressive international Asian co-production (Japan/Korea/Malaysia/Hong Kong/France/USA/China) starring breakthrough Zainichi Korean indie actress/rising producer Kiki Sugino (Hospitalité), Korean indie writer/director/actor Yang-Ik June (Breathless), award-winning Korean actress Kim Kkobbi (Breathless) and directed by Malaysian-Chinese filmmaker Lim Kah-Wai

The program includes a special interactive presentation of Jacob Krupnick’s GIRL WALK // ALL DAY, produced by Youngna Park, a cutting-edge, feature-length dance music video set to the iconic modern party album All Day by innovative mashup DJ Girl Talk, exploring the border between documentary and reality, pitting remix culture and creative spirit versus the modern digital copyright scheme and unflappable New Yorkers.

In remembrance of the 1992 Los Angeles Riots, and building on last year’s “LA Riots: 19 Years Later” panel with veteran directors Dai Sil Kim-Gibson and Charles Burnett, KAFFNY presents a special program marking the 20th anniversary, to also screen online for free during the festival week. The riots or “429” (“Sa-I-gu”) a Korean nomenclature denominated for the date of the riots, is the single most devastating event for the Korean American community, and is widely considered a re-awakening of Korean American identity and leadership. KAFFNY will present films by new voices from the Korean American community, the second generation, including those whose parents' businesses were burned in the riots. The program includes Alex Ko’s POKDONG, and Kathy Choi, Dae Hoon Kim and Hosik Kim’s LAR20.

FEATURE-LENGTH FILMS:

International Premiere/Opening Night: SHOULD’VE KISSED (2010): Auteur debut film from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts alumnus Jinoh Park with great performances and deft long takes. Two aspiring actors and lonely souls navigate New York City, one, played by Park himself, a dive-bar singer who converses with Robert De Niro on a movie poster of “Taxi Driver” by another NYU alumn, Martin Scorsese. Directed by Jinoh Park. (Tuesday, June 5 at 7:30pm & Saturday, June 9 at 10:00pm, Anthology Film Archives)

World Premiere: ULTIMATE CHRISTIAN WRESTLING (2011): Two filmmakers fly to rural Georgia to capture a traveling pro-wrestling Christian ministry with the intention of coming back to New York with a documentary about the ridiculousness of American religious expression. What they find instead are three men within the ministry using their faith as a way to guide them through the most dire of circumstances, a faith that clashes not only with the conservative religious views of the Bible Belt, but also with the people who have chosen to reject Christianity as a direct result of its overbearing presence in the South. Directed by Jae Ho Chang and Tara Autovino. (Saturday, June 9 at 5:00pm & Sunday, June 10 at 7:30pm, Anthology Film Archives)

US Premiere: MAGIC AND LOSS (2010): Co-presented by Japan Society. A Korean/Japanese/Malaysian/Chinese collaboration with Korean Japanese indie actress/producer Kiki Sugino (L'Hospitalite), Yang-Ik June and Kim KKhobi from Korean indie juggernaut Breathless. Malaysian director Lim Kah Wai’s distinctively captures the unfolding relationships between the 3 actors’ in this fresh new Asian mystery. Two young women, Kiki and Kkobbi, whose purpose and background are unknown, and nationalities are unclear, win a lottery ticket for a free vacation at an island resort called Mui Wo in Hong Kong. In a completely isolated and unknown place, they start to experience an extraordinary adventure. Directed by Lim Kah Wai. (Thursday, June 7 at 7:30pm & Saturday, June 9 at 2:30pm, Anthology Film Archives)

New York Festival Interactive Premiere: GIRL WALK // ALL DAY (2012): A cutting-edge, feature-length dance music video set to Girl Talk’s standard-setting All Day mashup album exploring the border between documentary and reality, re-pushing the envelope of remix culture and challenging Wim Wender’s Pina with true indie and youthful spirit. An urban exploration that follows three dancers across New York City, turning the sidewalks, parks and architecture into an evolving stage as they spread their joy of movement. Directed by Jacob Krupnick. (Wednesday, June 6 at 7:30pm, Venue To Be Announced).

PERHAPS, SOMEWHERE (2009): Auteur debut film from Arts Institute of Chicago alumn demonstrates impressive mise-en-scene sensibility. Two lonely souls navigate through their isolated past and present in uncharacteristic landscapes of the Midwest, searching for a sense of home. In meeting, they forge a brief and close bond, learning to understand themselves and one another, wondering where they will go next. Directed by Brian Oh. (Saturday, June 9 at 7:30pm, Anthology Film Archives)

LOS ANGELES RIOTS 20TH ANNIVERSARY PROGRAM:

POKDONG (2006): For over a decade, Korean filmmaker, ALEX KO has lived in a family silenced by the devastating loss of their store during the 1992 L.A. Riots. In POK DONG, the Ko family shares their dramatic story for the first time, confronting painful memories as a means of finally moving on. Directed by Alex Ko. (Screening date, time and venue to be announced)

LAR20 (2012): An examination of the racial state of mind of America, now 20 years after the LA riots of 1992, focusing primarily on young culture makers who were voiceless 20 years ago. Directed by Kathy Choi, Dae Hoon Kim and Hosik Kim.(Screening date, time and venue to be announced)

More films to be announced.
SHORTS 1 (COMPETITION):
(Thursday, June 7 at 10:00pm & Sunday, June 10 at 2:30pm, Anthology Film Archives)
* = New York-based filmmakers

DOL (FIRST BIRTHDAY) by Andrew Ahn
REUNION by Choi Jai Young
*HOME by Seimi Kim
THE RECORDER EXAM by Bora Kim
GHOST by Dachi Ma
CITY by Kim Ye-Young
*I AM JOHN WAYNE by Christina Choe
BLUE by Stephen Kang

SHORTS 2:
(Friday, June 8 at 10:00pm & Sunday, June 10 at 5:00pm, Anthology Film Archives)
* = New York-based filmmakers

* TOAST by Henry Jean
* SAEING IL (BIRTHDAY) by Jennifer Suhr
* THE PROBLEM OF GRAVITY by Trevor Zhou
MOUNTAIN OF JUNE by Do-Yeon Kim
* TREE by Pyeung Hun Baik
* THE KOOK by Greg Mitnick
* LIKE SUGAR ON THE TIP OF MY LIPS by Minji Kang
* FRACTURED by Terry Sasaki
* SILENCE YOUR WAITING by Jake Jeon
* NOW YOU SEE ME by Zooey Park
KOREAN SCHOOL REJECTS by Peter Yun
* PLAY THINGS by Mike Cook

For details and updates check the KAFFNY website