If you’re an aspiring filmmaker and really want to meet a man with a vision and an eye, come out to hear Soopum Sohn who hails from South Korea.  He will be sharing insights into his film “Make Yourself at Home (AKA Fetish)” at NYU on November 5th at 6:30pm.  It stars one of South Korea’s biggest actresses, Song Hye Kyo, and it’s a story about a Korean woman who marries a Korean-American man. It’s a story of culture clashes (Kyopo vs. Korean & Korea vs. America) as Song Hye Kyo tries to understand and absorb her new life in New Jersey.

We first met Mr. Sohn at the Korean American Film Festival of New York earlier this year, and he was an incredibly insightful gentleman.  He really is an “artist.”  For more details, go to Facebook.

Someone you should watch out for is director Soopum Sohn.  We had done numerous interviews with directors but Soopum was someone who really stood out in the interview room.  He’s a man of intensity and has an eye that other directors would love.  He is acutely aware of his surroundings and knows how to capture the moment.  He’s a true artist and we know that we probably came across someone who’s name will be known for a long time.

Mr. Soopum Sohn studied film in the U.S. but was originally a photographer.  He has a wonderful track record as the director of photography (see his DP reel below) on numerous films, but Make Yourself at Home is his directorial debut.  It features one of the most famous actresses in South Korea, Song Hye-Kyo, who plays her role brilliantly as a South Korean woman who marries a Korean-American man who barely speaks any Korean, and lives under the scrutiny of her new mother-in-law in New Jersey.  As Song Hye-Kyo’s character adjusts to life in the U.S., she becomes increasingly obsessed with finding an American name.  Mr. Sohn raises the question in the movie, why do Korean-Americans have two names:  Korean and English.  After I watched a little bit of the movie, I came to wonder, why do many Korean-Americans have two names?  If you haven’t seen it, go see Make Yourself at Home by Mr. Soopum Sohn.

We interviewed Ted Chung (President of Doggy Style Records) a while back and when we asked him if a Korean-American could break into the hip hop scene, he was confident in the Far East Movement being that trailblazer. We did a cursory search on FEM and there’s a lot of buzz about these guys.  Could 2009 be the year where the Far East meets the West?  The Far East Movement will be touring with Epik High across the country.  Go check’em out if they’re in town.