True gems from KAFFNY last night

Posted on 01 March 2009 by Korean Beacon

Category: News

Tags: David Kim, Film Festival, Gene Rhee, KAFFNY, Peter Kang, Soopum Sohn, Susie Lim, Thomas Ko

Korean Beacon was in attendance last night for the 3rd annual Korean American Film Festival of New York. It was a great success because it showcased some incredible talent. What I found interesting was how each director had different starting points to their careers and pursued making films because of a single purpose, and that was to pursue a passion that many Korean parents wouldn’t fully support. Thomas Ko was in the US military reserves and had no formal film training, but we saw his raw talent on display in “Monsters.” Then you have Gene Rhee who finished at the top of his class at the world renowned USC film school and he’s probably one on a path to many feature films. His latest work, “The Trouble with Romance,” was released to the public on Friday and an excerpt was shown last night. Over the course of the night we discovered some great film gems that we hope will get some quick attention. My personal favs and films that intrigued me include the aforementioned films but also Grandma and Wrestling, Ultimate Christian Wrestling and Make Yourself at Home. I’ll be sure to watch the full screening of all the films I mentioned. We were very fortunate to interview and talk with several of the directors and we’ll have those interview videos posted in March. The funniest interaction I had was with Soopum Sohn who made the film Make Yourself at Home with famed Korean actress Song Hye Kyo. This was his first feature film as a director and when I said the film was very well made, his humble response was that he had more budget than most other filmmakers. Wait till you see his interview. Let’s just say the whole film crew that interviewed him enjoyed interviewing him. He is a true “artist.” Congratulations to David Kim, Susie Lim and Peter Kang for putting on a special program.