When: Saturday-Sunday, September 6-7, 2014. First film starts at 12:30pm (check below for full schedule).
Where: School of Cinematic Arts Ray Stark Theater – SCA 108 (900 W. 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007)
The Korean Film Festival comes back to USC, this time exploring the cinema from and about North Korea.
In popular culture, North Korea has been an imaginary realm which stirs up political ideologies and perplexing questions. In contemporary Hollywood blockbusters, the North Korean regime serves well enough for the vicious role of a counter-axis power in the world order. One of the most interesting depictions of North Korea is in the recent Hollywood film World War Z. The film describes the North Korean people as zombies without fangs. North Korean leader Kim Jong-eun, upon encountering the catastrophic zombie epidemic, orders all citizens’ teeth extracted within 24 hours to stop the spread of the disease. This representation of North Korea as an undead and alienated entity is problematic.
This two-day film event shows North Korea and its people in a state of flux. The films will provide Southern California audiences with the opportunity to view a dynamic shift in cinematic approach toward North Korea as well as the change in public sentiment surrounding discourse on Korean reunification and North Korean refugees. The five selected films are collaborations or independent works with origins in North Korea, Europe, China, and Korea. They were selected because they focus on movement in North Korea across the various borders of class, gender, territory, and nationality. These films counter stereotypical representations by allowing audiences to see vibrant depictions of the lives of North Koreans and the possibility of change in North Korea through the quiet, dramatic movements of crossing, jumping, and flying.
This event is hosted by the Korean Studies Institute and Cinematic Arts, with sponsorship from the East Asian Studies Center. All events are free to the USC community and public.
