THE FESTIVAL
5th KAFFNY 2011 is scheduled for February 2011. KAFFNY is a New York film festival screening works of interest to the local Korean American and broader community. Our festival features films of all subject matter, genres and lengths from a variety of perspectives.

CALL FOR ENTRIES
We are now accepting entries for 5th KAFFNY 2011.

Features:
Narrative or Documentary films, completed January 1st, 2009 or later.
Films longer than 60 minutes.

Shorts Competition:
All genres, completed January 1st, 2009 or later.
Films shorter than 30 minutes preferred.
Jury Award – Cash Prize TBD
Audience Award – Cash Prize TBD

Shorts:
All genres, completed any date.
Films shorter than 30 minutes preferred.

Internet:
All genres, completed any date.
Films will be screened on a rolling basis throughout the year at www.kaffny.com.
There is no deadline for Internet entries.

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Entry Forms
Fill out online entry form at: www.kaffny.com/2011entryform
Accepted exhibition formats are: 35mm, HDCam, Digibeta, or Betacam.

2. DVD Screeners
Send DVD preview screeners (NTSC, Region 0 or 1) to:

KAFFNY
c/o Barrel
104 W 27th Street, 11A
New York, NY 10001

*There is no entry fee!
**Do not send DVDs in fiber filled envelopes! The fibers can ruin both your screeners and our equipment.

REGULATIONS
Deadline: Entry Forms and DVD screeners must be received in our offices no later than November 30th, 2010. Submitting early gives you more time for consideration, and helps you avoid the risk of missing the deadline. You may send more than one entry at a time. Press Kits are not required until after selection.

Premiere Status: There is no premiere requirement with KAFFNY, although making at least your NY premiere with us is favorable.

Preview Format: All preview screeners must be submitted on DVD (NTSC, Region 0 or 1) and be in English or have English subtitles.

Exhibition Format: Accepted formats for exhibition are: 35mm, HDCam, Digital Beta NTSC, or Betacam NTSC. Film prints must be traditional “married” release prints with sound.

Festival Notification: Final program determinations will be made by January 15th, 2011. You will be notified in writing on or before that date, whether your film has been selected.

Loss and Damage: Every precaution will be taken to safeguard all materials submitted while in our possession. However, we cannot accept or assume responsibility in the event of loss or damage.

For an immediate acknowledgement of our receipt of your submission, include a self-addressed stamped postcard, which we will send back to you. If you’d like your preview copy returned, include a self-addressed, stamped mailing package. Screeners will otherwise not be returned.

Please direct your inquires to info@kaffny.com. Also, visit our website at www.kaffny.com.

picnic overlooking island

Eric Rhee, producer of “Stop and Bap” (working title) PBS TV Series

by Dave Kim

D.K. What is the project you are currently working on and what inspired you to do it?

E.R. I’m currently working on a TV series for PBS called “Stop and Bap” (working title).  It’s a food and travel series about Korean food and culture with Chef Jean Georges Vongerichten and his wife Marja, a Korean American adoptee with an amazing story.

My biggest inspiration is my mom.  Her love for food and cooking for our family is something I am so grateful for and something I feel many Korean Americans have in common.  Also, having produced on a similar series about Spain with Mario Batali, Gwyneth Paltrow, Mark Bittman, and Claudia Bassols, I felt the need to also do a series that shares the beauty of Korea, it’s people, history and culture.

D.K. What is the scale/scope of this project?  What is the size of the production?

E.R. The final product will be 13 half-hour episodes expected to air on PBS starting Spring 2011.  We are also producing a companion book to the series that will have photos and recipes of the trip by Marja and Jean Georges.  Another important goal we would like to do is setup a website that gives people the ability to watch the series, learn the recipes, and even purchase some of the ingredients from our site.

In terms of the actual production, we like to travel as light and lean as possible.  We usually travel 3-4 cameramen, a sound engineer, some lighting personnel, the director, myself, a couple production support staff and the talent.  It ends up being anywhere from 10-15 people traveling like the Brady Bunch.

D.K. Who is supporting the project?

E.R. The main sponsors have been the Visit Korean Committee and the Korean Food Foundation.  We also have private sponsors that include: Samsung, CJ, Hite Jinro Group, Amore Pacific, Korean Air, and the Westin Chosun Hotel

D.K. To what target audience do you plan on airing/screening the project?

E.R. Our target audience is anyone who loves food, travel, or has some interest to learn about some Korean culture.  Throughout the series, we feel there will always be a great story to tell.    While we don’t intend the series to cover everything on Korean culture, we hope that the stories such as seeing how green tea is grown and roasted to seeing some of the vibrant markets and restaurants in Korea will inspire people to try visiting Korea or perhaps try some Korean food.

making food

D.K. What difficulties did you have trying to get the project off the ground?  What production issues have you had?

E.R. One of the more difficult things was to get our 1st sponsor to commit to the series and negotiating the terms.  If people see you have at least 1 sponsor, it’s an easier sell and quite frankly, you really can’t start a project if you have zero sponsors.  And usually, governments are nice organizations to approach first because at least for what I do, there’s usually a tourism and/or agriculture budget each year that can be available.

There are always production issues whether it’s personnel, equipment, logistics, etc.  We haven’t had any major issues (knock on wood), but something that’s always hard to do in production is timing and scheduling things.  Weather, personnel, or even equipment can change the location or timing of a shoot.  We also try to do our best to plan for contingencies and make the best of a day, but more important than that is to communicate with the crew and people involved in the stories to make sure people understand what’s going on.

D.K. What issues do you foresee?

E.R. I think we are going to continue to face challenges with scheduling and timing, which also has implications on the budget.  I hope when we plan our Fall shoot, we can build an efficient yet flexible schedule to make sure we maximize the amount of footage and avoid any idle time.  Idle time is the worst, especially if the crew is on the clock!  I also think that in the post production phase, we’ll have to do a lot of research to give viewers a bit more background and context and to do that will require a lot of time and feedback from many many many people.

D.K. What effect do you think/hope this project will have on your audience?

E.R. I hope for Koreans and Korean Americans they can watch it and appreciate some aspects of their Korean heritage.  For non-Koreans, I hope they can learn something about what I feel is a fascinating culture and try some of the great food I’ve been able to enjoy.  I really believe there’s something for everyone in Korean cuisine and it isn’t just BBQ and Kimchi, there’s hundreds of dishes ranging from vegetarian to seafood and from spicy to savory.

Jean Georges

A.M. – Ashley Miller, Interviewer
H.K. – Hosik Kim, Director
A.L. – Almex Lee, Actor

A.M. How did the script for Deli come about?

H.K. I was the primary writer, and I also got some help from friend and writer James Yoo who went to NYU. Basically, we got together, and over the course of maybe a month or two, I had an original idea and we completed the script. In the story, there’s a particular beer Pillsner Urquell…I’m personally a big fan of that beer and, I always thought, hey what a hard to pronounce name for a beer…I should make something out of this! [laughter] No…well, of course there are a lot of my personal stories and some stories that I’ve heard…but mostly just a mix of imagination, experience…and some hard to pronounce beer!

A.M. What’s Deli about?

H.K. It’s a story about growing up, and an homage to boy meets girl, like The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) the two main characters, the hero and heroine don’t get along together, &c., just a very classic love story, but I think for anybody in their 20’s, the romantic relationship is the center of growing up—you get hurt, you overcome that scar, that wound—and then you really feel like you’ve grown up. But then, you meet another girl and it happens over and over again, three or five times, until your 20’s are over!

A.M. And how did you cast Almex for the film?

H.K. Well, there are many good Korean-American actors in New York, but it was hard for me to find the right one, the one I had in mind for the film. So, actually I auditioned around 20 or 30 Korean-American actors. I really had the actor for the part of Deli in my mind, so all I saw was the headshot of Almex, and I thought, this guy could be it, so then I contacted him. I think it was around week four I got the message back from him. The first three weeks of the audition were at NYU, but after the third week I wasn’t permitted to use the audition space anymore. So, I had to go to Maru. When Almex came, he had to audition in one of the karaoke rooms. It was a short film; raw, 2 nights of shooting, we did a couple rehearsals but not enough. I think we did maybe two or three rehearsals before we started, but he understood the character from the beginning…he’s a born actor so I didn’t really need to add much direction.

A.L. When I read for the part, I actually had broken up with a girlfriend the week before that, so it was easy to get into the moment. It didn’t exactly end the way it did in Deli, but at least I had that immediate experience to rely on throughout the filming.

A.M. How did you find the deli where the film was shot?

H.K. Me and my D.P. Nick Bentgen went out in search of the deli, and because all the shooting was going to happen in this deli, the location was really important. I found a few delis, but they all wanted some money, and I didn’t have that kind of budget, so…but I found one deli where the ajosshi was going to let me shoot for free so I was really happy to shoot there. But then a couple days later I got a call at 2 AM one night, saying the front and half of the deli was burned to ashes. So then I had to find a replacement. The deli where we ended up shooting was M2M deli up on 110th near Columbia. I used to live there, so—and through friends I got to know the manager Oh. He was generous enough to provide us a free space. So, we shot there from the time the deli closed at 12:01 and we got to use it until it re-opened at 6. The manager hyung had to stay there the whole time we were shooting.

A.L. The deli manager was very generous, so as an actor I felt very relaxed. He even offered us cookies and Japanese udon.

H.K. Yeah, he’s credited at the very top of our special thanks at the end of the movie.

A.M. What kind of audience feedback did you get for the film?

H.K. Actually, it’s interesting because, when I showed the film in Korea, a lot of my Korean friends reacted that the girl was really rude or cruel, like how could she speak so frankly about the beer they used to drink in front of her ex-boyfriend? Whereas in America, you would understand it as, actually the girl does care about the ex-boyfriend, and that’s her way of saying hey, I miss you, and we had a good time together. So those were two very different views I got from Korean and Korean-American audiences.

A.M. So, are you happy with the film overall?

H.K. Yeah, a student film is crazy; limited time, limited equipment, small budget. So, as a student director, I’m just glad the movie came out as a completed piece! A lot of times, students find gaps in coverage or the movie can turn away from the original idea while shooting, but we had a good crew, good actors, good editor—Ashley Park was my editor and she did a tremendous job editing—and it was a great learning experience. Actually, after the film was finished I put it away and didn’t want to show it to anyone…I felt like it was my first film and it wasn’t really ready. But I had a friend who suggested I should really let other people see it, and criticize it, and learn from it. It was the first time I saw Deli on the big screen, at KAFFNY, and it was a really different experience—it was way better than we thought. So from there it went to KOFFLA (Korean Film Festival LA), I got some interviews, so all of this has been a great learning experience for me. It’s motivated me to work on more projects, to make better projects.

A.M. How would you say you grew as a result of the film?

A.L. Well, I’ve only done maybe two or three shorts before working with Hosik, and what was great about it is that there’s minimal dialogue in this film. It required a lot of internal emotional expression, so the film really helped me develop a character’s inner monologue. Other characters I played before were very extroverted, very energetic, so this film and Hosik really helped me develop that kind of internal character. And it helped me realize the importance of the relationship between the actors and the director.

A.M. So, what are you guys doing now?

A.L. For me, I’ve just been auditioning, and also I write as well, so I’ve been writing. As an actor, especially a Korean-American actor, I think we need to have a wider range of choices. So, I think one of the best ways to gain access to those roles is to create your own opportunities. Hosik and I are always talking about projects that we can possibly work on together.

H.K. About a month ago, actually, Dave (Dae Hoon) Kim, Almex and I, we all got together and started a small project—working title Brothers—over spring break, shot just using a DSLR camera.

A.L. At first it started with us just going out and filming guerilla style, and then we started taking it more seriously. Basically, it’s about my character and Dave, who plays my brother, who comes to New York to sponge off of me, even though I’m the younger brother. So, just developing those frustrations, and I’m sure a lot of people who have siblings can relate. But, eventually it’s a compromise in the end.

H.K. Yeah, but the shooting style, the guerilla style, was actually something we learned a lot from; heavily improvised, no written camera work…we wouldn’t call it serious filmmaking, but at the same time it’s fun. It’s an exercise.

A.M. Are you going to put it up on Youtube?

A.L. Well, our main motivation isn’t really mass viewing, but to cultivate and develop our own style and craft. We want to create something of quality, something worthy of backing. That’s why festivals are such a great thing, I mean Youtube’s great, too, but anyone can get on it, without anyone’s opinion. That’s why festivals are important, because opinion matters.

Cast:
Jun Kim – West 32nd, SBS Lobbyist (로비스트), The Scam (작전), Lovers Behind (어깨너머의 연인)
Shane Yoon – The Agent, Shotgun, Pie and Coffee
David Lee McInnis – KBS Iris (아이리스), Never Forever, Typhoon (태풍)
Mina Yoo
Ben Chang
John Park
David Rhee
Eugene Choi
Juliana Park

Directed by Andrew Oh
Written by Shane Yoon
Produced by Annie Kim and Andrew Oh
Associate Producer: Eugene Choi
Fight Coordinator: Ben Chang
Set Photographer: John Park – www.johnparkphoto.com

Buy your tickets today!

2PM
Thirst directed by Chan-Wook Park
Going Home directed by Jason Hoffman

4:30PM
Munyurangabo directed by Lee Isaac Chung
Make Yourself at Home directed by Soopum Sohn

Watch trailers for these four features:

Be sure to buy tickets – our early price is just $8!

SHORTS COMPETITION

The Last Mermaids
Directed by Liz Chae

A Green Mountain in the Drawer
Directed by Hwa Jun Lee

His Name Is Trevor
Directed by Kim Seuk Hwan

A Cup of Coffee
Directed by Lee Young Woo

Maley from India
Directed by Jang Jaehyun

Hide and Seek
Directed by Chih-Wei Chang

My Four Inch Precious
Directed by Sou Yun Sim

Crippled
Directed by Ien Chi

SHORTS

L’Asilo di Brea
Directed by Dae Hoon Kim

Une Vie Merveilleuse a Paris
Directed by Sungmi Park

The 8th Samurai
Directed by Justin Ambrosino

Duelers
Directed by Min Oh

A School Rep
Directed by Park Sang-Joon

One Night in LA
Directed by Jon Maxwell

Deli
Directed by Hosik Kim

The Tin Soldier
Directed by Jennifer Cho Suhr

Familyship
Directed by Yoon Hye-Ryeom

Meet Parents
Directed by Yang Jun-ho

Our Knight
Directed by Eugene Yi

FEATURES

Make Yourself at Home
Directed by Soopum Sohn

Munyurangbo
Directed by Lee Isaac Chung

Thirst
Directed by Chan Wook Park

Going Home
Directed by Jason Hoffman

Date: Saturday, February 27, 2010 – Sunday, February 28, 2010
Location: SVA Theatre, 333 West 23rd Street, New York, NY 10011

Visit www.svatheatre.com for more information.

The 4th Annual Korean American Film Festival New York (KAFFNY) is scheduled for February 27th 2010 at TheTimesCenter.  KAFFNY is a one-day New York festival screening works by emerging Korean American filmmakers.  Our program features films of all genres and lengths from a variety of Korean and American perspectives.

New for 2010 is our Narrative Shorts Competition with Jury and Audience Awards with cash prizes.  Also new are Web Screenings, submissions received and selections screened on a rolling basis year round, open to all genres, completed by any date.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

We are now accepting short film submissions from filmmakers of Korean descent and of any nationality.

Narrative Shorts Competition:
Narrative films, completed January 1st, 2008 or later.
Filmmakers of Korean descent and any nationality.
Films shorter than 30 minutes preferred.
Jury Award – Cash Prize $500
Audience Award – Cash Prize $500

Shorts Program:
All genres, completed any date.
Filmmakers of any descent and any nationality.
Films shorter than 30 minutes preferred.

Feature Presentation:
Narrative or Documentary films, completed January 1st, 2008 or later.
Filmmakers of Korean descent and any nationality.
Films longer than 60 minutes preferred.

Web Screenings:
All genres, completed any date.
Films will be screened on a rolling basis throughout the year at www.kaffny.com

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Step 1:
Fill out online entry form at: www.kaffny.com/2010entryform

Step 2:
Send DVD submissions, NTSC Region 0 or 1, to:
KAFFNY
c/o Barrel
42 W 24th Street
New York, NY 10010

The submission deadline is November 30, 2009 (except Web Screenings).  There is no entry fee for the deadline.  Programming decisions will be made by December 31st, 2009.

Please direct your inquires to info@kaffny.com.  Also, visit our website at www.kaffny.com.

ORGANIZERS
Dae Hoon Kim – Festival Director
Peter Kang – Coordinator
Susie Lim – PR/Marketing