November 4, 2003

A six-day festival of films and videos from some of the most innovative Korean and Korean American media artists starts Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the August Coppola Theater with the opening of the third annual San Francisco Korean American Media Arts Festival.

The festival -- the only such event in the country that celebrates Korean American media arts -- will showcase 22 films and videos and includes a series of public forums featuring influential Korean and Korean American media and film industry professionals.

The events reflect the festival's theme: "Bridging Koreanness: Telling Korean and Korean American Stories Through the Media Arts," said Chul Heo, the festival's program director and assistant professor of broadcast and electronic communication arts (BECA) at SFSU. "The objective of this year's festival is to encourage and facilitate dialogue between Korean filmmakers, Korean American media artists and the general public," he said.

Works to be shown include Heo's "Between Two Worlds," a documentary on identity conflict among young Korean Americans; associate professor of Asian American Studies Grace Yoo's documentary on the Korean War, "Stories Untold;" alumnus Sung Kim's "Book of Rules;" and alumna Lisa Kwak's "The Theater of Martin Lim." Director Jay-Yeon Yoon's mega-hit horror film "Wishing Stairs" will make its U.S. premiere at the festival.

Produced by SFSU's Korea Studies in Media Arts program, with major funding from the Koret Foundation, the festival opens Tuesday with Greg Pak's film "Robot Stories," winner of the best screenplay award in 2002 from the Hamptons International Film Festival.

In addition to the Coppola Theater, the festival's films will be shown at McKenna Theater on campus, the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, the Four Star Movie Theatre in San Francisco and the Camera 3 Cinema in San Jose. The festival ends Sunday, Nov. 9.

Meet some of the filmmakers and industry veterans at two open forums on campus Friday, Nov. 7. The first -- 2-4 p.m. in the University Club -- will focus on issues facing Korean Americans working in the media industry. The panel includes such independent filmmakers and broadcast journalists as SFSU alumni Sung Kim and Luci Kwak, KRON 4 business reporter Sabrina Kang and CBS 5 reporter Sue Kwon.

Friday's second forum -- 4:30-5:30 p.m. in Studio 1 of the Creative Arts Building --- features a question-and-answer session with Korean filmmakers, including "Wishing Stairs" director Jae-Yeon Yoon, who will discuss her works, background and artistic vision.

A special forum examining the implications of globalization on the screen quota system in Korea takes place off-campus on Saturday, Nov. 8 from 3-5 p.m. in the screening room of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission Street.

The forum's panelists will include Hae-Joon Kim, secretariat director of the Korean Film Commission; Choon-Yun Lee, chair of the Korean Film Community; actor Kye-Nam Myung ("Resurrection of the Little Match Girl"); Gina Yu, president of the Coalition for Cultural Diversity in Moving Image; Eun Lee, producer of "A Good Lawyer's Wife"; Roy Lee, producer of "The Ring"; and Jae-Yeon Yoon, director of "Wishing Stairs." Stephen Ujlaki, a veteran Hollywood producer who is now chair of the Cinema Department at SFSU, and Brent Malin, professor of BECA, will moderate.

For a full schedule and ticket prices, go to the 3rd Annual San Francisco Korean American Media Arts Festival Web site or contact Chul Heo of BECA at (415) 405-0594.

-- Ted DeAdwyler with Public Affairs Student Writer Audrey Tang

1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94132    (415) 338-1111
Last modified November 4, 2003, by the Office of Public Affairs