USC Korean Film Festival

The USC Korean Studies Institute has hosted Korean film festivals since 1996. This program was first launched by David E. James of Critical Theory in the School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) through his organization of Dir. Im Kwon Taek’s first North American retrospective hosted at USC. Beginning in 2007, then KSI associate director Elaine Kim brought a new momentum to the institute’s film-centered initiatives. With contributions also by EALC faculty Youngmin Choe, and Sunyoung Park, as well as other SCA faculty, including Akira Lippit, KSI hosted annual film festivals through 2017, screening films in 35mm and digital formats, often also inviting film scholars, critics, and experts in Korean entertainment as well as Korean film directors.

Collaborators have included the USC School of Cinematic Arts, USC East Asian Studies Center, USC Korean Heritage Library, USC Center for International Studies, USC Center for Feminist Research, USC East Asian Languages & Cultures, the Korea Foundation, Korean Cultural Center Los Angeles, the Korean Film Council (KoFiC), and the Academy of Korean Studies.