March 24th 2004: Issue 05 A lot of opportunities to see some home-grown (as in the motherland, home) Korean films this and next week. Korean films have significantly improved over the past several years (can't say to same for the guy-meets-girl-then-girl-gets-cancer-and-dies dramas you rent from Koryo Video) and are getting some well-deserved recognition, most notably Im-Kwon-Taek co-winning Best Director at Cannes in '02. Check out a flick or two and see where the future of film is going (or has gone). And if you haven't heard about the latest racist portrayal of Asians in the media (this time Asian males in particular), check out Details magazine latest ignorant article: "Gay or Asian?". Already people are writing in to express their disgust and truthfully, I am bewildered at the ignorance of the Details editors to think that this actually might be funny. For more info on how to contact them, and a copy of a letter my friend sent, click here. -ubn

SCREENINGS A Night at the Movies A Little Monk and Nowhere to Hide The Korean Cultural Service Thursday March 25th and Tuesday April 6th, 6:30pm Korean Cultural Service 460 Park Avenue at 57th Street New York City www.koreanculture.org | (212)759-9550 A Little Monk Starring Kim Tae-jin, Kim Min-gyo, Kim Ye-ryeong, Oh Yeong-su, Jeon Mu-song Directed by Joo Kyung-jung Thursday March 25th, 6:30pm A Little Monk, by first-time director Joo Kyung-jung, centers around the isolated world of a Buddhist monastery. Little Do-nyeom wants nothing more than to find his mother, whom he cannot remember, and to return to being a regular kid like others he sees in the neighborhood of the monastery. Twenty-year-old Jung-Sim cannot suppress his feelings when he is around girls. Through telling their stories, A Little Monk explores the cultural gap between the ancient religion of Buddhism and the modern world. Running time: 102 minutes. Nowhere to Hide Starring Ahn Seong-gi, Park Jung-Hun, Jang Dong-Geon Directed by Lee Myung-se Guest speaker: Lee Myung-se Tuesday April 6th, 6:30pm Acclaimed for its visual style and brilliancy, Nowhere to Hide chronicles a police hunt of a criminal mastermind. In his March 2000 review, Elvis Mitchell of the New York Times remarked, "(Nowhere to Hide) features a number of set pieces that will enter the vocabulary of film." Critics hailed director Lee Myung-se as a successor to John Woo, Alfred Hitchcock and Sergei Eisenstein for this astonishing film, which won the Blue Dragon Award in 1999 for best film and best supporting actor. The Korean Cultural Service is pleased to announce that Mr. Lee will be present at the screening and will give a brief talk and discussion of his film. A reception will follow. Running time: 112 minutes.

LECTURE Case Studies: A Survival Guide for Artists in New York Featuring Sang Nam Lee, artist, and Jonathan Goodman, art critic The Korean Cultural Service Friday, March 26th, 6 - 8:00pm Korean Cultural Service 460 Park Avenue at 57th Street New York City www.koreanculture.org | (212)759-9550 The Korean Cultural Service is proud to announce a new Lecture Series, "Case Studies." This series will bring together a Korean or Korean-American artist living in New York and a prominent New York art professional in an effort to address one of the most pressing issues for young artists today: surviving as an artist in New York. This series was organized by Shinyoung Chung, an art critic based in New York. Sang Nam Lee lives and works in New York. His works have been showcased in numerous exhibits and has been reviewed in The New York Times, Art in America, and Art Asia Pacific. His work was included in Gallery Korea's group exhibition, "At the Crossroads," last fall. Jonathan Goodman is a freelance writer who has published extensively on Asian art for the last 10 years. Currently, he is the reviews editor for Art Asia Pacific and teaches at the Pratt Institute and Parsons School of Design. He writes regularly for Art in America and Sculpture.

A couple interesting Korean imports for the New Directors / New Film Festival this year at the at Lincoln Center, one notably by renown director Kim Ki-Duk. I've just listed the Korean films, but for more info about the festival as a whole, click over to the website below.

SCREENINGS New Directors / New Films Festival Film Society of Lincoln Center Wednesday, March 24th - Sunday April 4th Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center 165 West 65th Street, Plaza Level 212) 875-5600    -and- MoMA Film at The Gramercy Theatre 127 East 23rd Street at Lexington Avenue 212) 777-4900 Calendar: www.filmlinc.com/ndnf/NDcalendar04.pdf Program Notes: www.filmlinc.com/ndnf/ndnf2004.htm One of the country's premier showcases for new work of international and American filmmakers. For over three decades, the festival has introduced innovative works by numerous talented directors, many of who have become major figures in world cinema, including Spike Lee, Pedro Almodovar, Chantal Akerman and Wong Kar-wai. Presented by The Department of Film and Media, The Museum of Modern Art and The Film Society of Lincoln Center. Advance ticket sales will be through Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center or here. http://www.filmlinc.com/ndnf/NDCoupon04.pdf Untold Scandal South Korea, 2003. 124 min. T29B. Monday March 29 at 8:45pm G31A. Wednesday March 31 at 6:00pm. This masterfully crafted costume drama is a luscious, sexy and sly retelling of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, brilliantly transposed to Korea at the end of the 18th century. More a comedy of manners than a savage satire, director E J-Yong's adaptation concentrates on the hypocrisy of a society in which slander, seduction and gossip have a field day among the aristocrats. For this visually gifted filmmaker, a single barbed remark or sidelong glance conjures up a world ruled by artifice. Korean TV idol Bae Yong-jun makes his big screen debut as the philandering aristocrat, the stunning Lee Mi-Suk is charming and chilling as his royal cousin and arch manipulator, and Jeon Do-yeon elicits sympathy as the pure young widow who is the object of the scheming. Screening at the MoMA's Gramercy Theatre. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring South Korea, 2003. 103 min Wednesday March 31 at 6:00pm W31B. Wednesday March 31 at 8:45pm G1A. Thursday April 1 at 6:00pm. In a beautiful temple on a secluded lake live an old monk and his young charge, a boy of barely school age. Under the old monk's tutelage, the youngster learns the secrets and lessons of the world around him. When he gleefully ties stones to a fish, a frog and a snake, his master binds a rock to the child's back. As a teenage boy, the young monk experiences carnal passion and attachment; as an adult, jealousy and profound despair. He leaves and returns cyclically, each season a stage in his progress from novice to enlightened human being. This ravishingly beautiful film never leaves the floating monastery and its breathtaking vistas, yet its seemingly hermetic world is a window on life's mysteries. Director Kim Ki-duk has created a deeply personal work of extraordinary elegance and spiritual feeling. A Sony Pictures Classics release. Screening at the Walter Reade Theater.

THEATER wAve by Sung Rno Ma-Yi Theater Company March 14th - April 11th Tuesday - Saturday 7:30pm Saturday - Sunday 2:30pm March 14th - 20th - $20 March 23th - April 11th - $35 Ohio Theater 66 Wooster Street New York City www.ma-yitheatre.org | info@ma-yitheatre.org Tickets: 212) 352-3101, 212) 971-4862 (groups) Welcome to the world of wAve, a play that oscillates between poetry and satire, Korea and America. It's a story about the dark comic forces that are at work on our culture at the dawn of the 21st Century. wAve examines the quantum nature of our cultural identity, creating a fragmented world that refracts myth, culture and language through a theatrical prism all its own. wAve attempts to not just relocate the Medea myth, but to radically reformulate it through a Korean American lens. The World Premiere of wAve is being presented by 2003 Obie Award-winner Ma-Yi Theater Company. wAve was originally commission by the Mark Taper Forum Asian Theater Project. It was developed through staged readings and workshops at Ma-Yi Theater Company, Imua Theater, The Mark Taper Forum, The NYSF/ Pubic Theater New Works Now!, Asian American Theater Company, Arena Stage, and Fluid Motion Theater Company.

NETWORKING RECEPTION Meet and Greet Special Guest: MTV Networks Asian Cinevision and co-sponsored by dvRepublic and the New York Productions Alliance Tuesday, March 31st, 6:30pm - 8:30pm 99 Hudson Street Sports Bar 99 Hudson Street New York City specialevents@asiancinevision.org | 212) 989-1422 Filmmaker of color monthly gathering to exchange ideas and business cards. Have a reel or 5 minute short? Let us know and you can possibly screen in front of the guests (must submit reels before the reception date to any of the sponsoring organizations)! Reps from MTV will talk to us about their diversity initiatives -- see you how you can possibly get a job at 1515 Broadway.

WORKSHOP How To Get All The Clients You Need Asian Women In Business Thursday, April 1st, 6:00pm - 9:00pm IBM Building 590 Madison Avenue, Room 1219 Corner of 57th Street New York City AWIB Members $20, Non-Members $35 www.awib.org | info@awib.org Attract more customers for you business. You may have a great product or service, but to make it profitable you need to increase your client base. Learn how marketing and client attraction really work, how to maximize on potential clients, retain your existing ones and get more referrals for your business. The workshop will be conducted by Fabienne Fredrickson, business coach and founder of the "Client Attraction System"TM. Fabienne has assisted hundreds of small businesses owners in attracting new clients.

CONFERENCE PanAPA Inspire 2004 Friday April 2nd - 3rd, 2004 American University Washington College of Law 4801 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC. www.panapa.org | dhk5@georgetown.edu What could bring together Frank Wu (author of Yellow), Viet Dinh (former Assistant Attorney General), John Yang (President of NAPABA), and a plethora of leading Asian Pacific American activists? What could garner the support of the National Asian American Telecommunications Association, APA Film Society, UPN, Imaginasian TV and APA organizations, artists and bands throughout the DC area? And be the launching pad for the first APA law journal, APALA, on the East Coast? It is PanAPA Inspire, a collaborative effort of seven law schools (Georgetown, Catholic, George Washington, University of Maryland, University of Baltimore, University of Virginia, and American University) and young professionals from the DC area. PanAPA Inspire is an Asian Pacific American identity conference like no other. It boasts great speakers and innovative event design. Unlike other conferences, PanAPA Inspire seeks to convey not only information and discussion, but an approach to the APA endeavor. It is a way of thinking and a philosophy. Like its title, "Re-Rallying Self-Invention", PanAPA Inspire asks its participants to proactively forge our own identity, acknowledging the landscape of the APA experience as rich and varied, capable of providing new perspectives and insight. Our unique position in American society allows us the opportunity to cultivate a new self-determined identity which can be accessible for all. This, ultimately, is the healthiest course for all Americans (or everyone).

CASTING NOTICE INHD (High Definition channel) INHD Channel www.inhd.com INHD is looking for Freelance On-Air Talent who can write, produce and host their own shows. Shows run 30 mins, INHD provides the crew and might typically be covering a big boat or air show or a tour of baseball stadiums. Work includes 2 or 3 days of pre-production, traveling to location, shooting interviews, b-roll and stand-ups plus writing the piece, working with editor and recording voice-over. Looking at men and women, late 20s to mid 30s, all ethnicities, who look great on tv, are smart, fun, witty, quick on their feet with great skills. Ideally, talent would be east coast based but are looking at people from all over. Pays $1500 per show to start + coach travel. Not determined yet how often INHD anticipates talent will work. Please send stand-up and producing reels along with resume/headshot (or recent photo) ASAP to: Barbara Barna Casting 335 Court St., #195 Brooklyn, NY 11231 ATTN: INHD

Another indication of how independent cinema is growing more and more each year in Korea, and the direction its cross-collaboration with the US is developing.

FILM FESTIVAL Seoul Net & Film Festival 2004 May 1st through September 22nd April 5th www.senef.net | program@senef.net The Fifth Annual Seoul Net & Film Festival (SeNef for short) comes to the Web May 1 through September 22 and to Seoul, Korea from September 15-22. The festival, which is supported by a grant from Korea's Ministry of Culture & Tourism, seeks to broaden its scope this year with entries from across the world. All genres are accepted, including fiction, non-fiction, animation, experimental, music video, Flash, Web-based media and more, but work should be digitally based and completed no earlier than January 1, 2003. Send in your film and media entries by April 5. VHS is preferred for previewing.

SCHOLARSHIP Fourth Annual MANAA Media Scholarship Media Action Network for Asian Americans Postmarked no later than June 1st, 2004 www.manaa.org |  manaaletters@yahoo.com MANAA, the Media Action Network for Asian Americans, is pleased to announce their $1000 scholarship for Asian Pacific American college and graduate students interested in pursuing careers in filmmaking and in television production (not broadcast journalism). MANAA is the only organization of its kind dedicated to monitoring the positive and negative portrayals of Asian Pacific Americans in the media. MANAA recognizes the urgent need to fill the ranks of television and film with persons of Asian and Pacific Islander descent in decision-making positions as screenwriters, directors, producers, and studio executives. We are looking to award students who have a strong desire to advance a positive and enlightened understanding of the Asian Pacific American experience in the mainstream media. Scholarship recipients will be selected on the basis of academic and personal merit, in addition to their desire to uplift the image of Asian Pacific Americans in film and television as demonstrated in their essay, work sample, and financial need. Students must submit the following materials. Incomplete applications will not be accepted. A copy of all official transcripts. A copy of completed financial aid documents. Two letters of recommendation. One that evaluates academic aptitude and another that speaks to the student's interest and involvement in the community. A double-spaced essay consisting of no more than 1,000 words answering the following questions: Where do you see yourself ten years from now? What accomplishments and strides will you hope to have made in your career in the film and television industry? How will you have worked to advance more positive images of Asian Pacific Americans in the mainstream media? A work sample consisting of a short film or screenplay. Materials will not be returned. (optional, but highly recommended) Send all completed applications to: MANAA Scholarship P.O. Box 11105 Burbank, CA 91510 Please do not send applications via certified or registered mail.