2009 – 13 min – New York/California – Russian & English w/ English subtitles – color
World Premiere
Synopsis
Hwan is an aimless military recruit. Betsy is a dabbling erotic performer. They meet as casual strangers after their failed rendezvous as half-siblings at the La Brea Tar Pits. Betsy just didn’t show up. Upon learning their true identities what will happen?
Director’s Bio
Dae-Hoon was born in Seoul, Korea and moved to America at age 3. An only child whose family moved around a lot, he spent much of his time building things and letting his imagination roam free. From an early age, he also remembers the frustration of constantly moving from city to city, without a solid home. His short film IT STRIKES TWICE, a dark comedy about a shady middle-aged man trying to convince a young man he’s been paralyzed by a rogue lightning bolt, screened at the Pusan International Film Festival 2008, and the Busan Asian Short Film Festival 2009. His film RUNNING FROM THE DEVIL, an action drama about mischievous youth who pay a price, screened at Mise-en-Scene’s Short Film Festival 2008.
Director’s Statement
“L’Asilo di Brea” means Asylum of Tar (half-Italian, half-Spanish). I liked the idea of ‘Asylum,’ which has many meanings/connotations/identities, spanning from a place of safety, a refuge for political prisoners, or a place for the mentally insane – all of which I think are appropriate here. As far as the tar, I began to appreciate the tar in my visits to the La Brea Tar Pits. Within it are the fossils of prehistoric animals, who had many years ago, struggled in their evolutions as species. I think we as humans are struggling as well, I guess from the very beginning. Perhaps it is a constant struggle that will never end. Or perhaps it might end very soon. From a distance the black smelly tar may seem disgusting, but closer up, it can look very beautiful and even cosmic in more ways than you can imagine. The tar is a metaphor for memory, a memory beyond humans, held by the earth.
