The Korean American experience is unique, dynamic and relevant - it is not a mere subset of the Korean or Asian American experience. Recently, many Korean Americans have sought to express our point of view through the language of film. Currently, there are few avenues dedicated to recognizing and initiating dialogue around this work. Thus, we have to open our own doors, our own opportunities, our own markets. We, the organizers are also filmmakers. KAFFNY is a vehicle for us to explore this new frontier together.

Check out KAFFNY 2007.

Dave Kim (a.k.a. David H. Kim, Dae Hoon Kim)
I want to see more films more universally appealing films by people like me about people like me. I am a third year student in the graduate film program at the Tisch School of the Arts. Alumni Spike Lee, Martin Scorsese, and Ang Lee all launched their careers by telling stories close to their communities. I hope to do the same by telling Korean American stories. For me, the festival is a means to engage and learn from similarly minded filmmakers and audience members.

I grew up in Korea, Detroit, Boston, and the New York area (including Brooklyn and Long Island). I then attended boarding school at Choate Rosemary Hall in Connecticut, got a liberal arts education at Pomona College in California, and learned the law at Georgetown in Washington D.C. before coming to Tisch here in New York.

My first love is rock vocals. I grew up in the glory days of the early 90s when music was fresh and inspiring. In D.C. I played gigs with a band called Bad Ron (http://www.myspace.com/badron). I'm looking to form a new band in New York. I love snowboarding and I'm also a licensed lawyer and real estate broker.

Jong Lee
Jong Lee began his career working in development at Longfellow Pictures ("The Prince of Tides"). He then moved on to work in documentary film production at Suitcase Productions. He worked at Artisan Entertainment where he worked on the marketing and promotion of such films as "Requiem For A Dream," "Way of The Gun," "Dr. T and The Women," and "Blair Witch 2" (Oh, God). He then joined the development and production of "Historias de Ellas," a feature film documentary on the Cuban diaspora told through the lens of gender. He was a part of the development, construction, and operations of Steiner Studios, a state-of-the-art 270,000 SF movie studio complex in Brooklyn. He is currently a Manhattan real estate broker. In addition to co-organizing KAFFNY 2008, he previously served as a consultant to The New York Korean Film Festival.

Barrel
Web management for KAFFNY website
http://www.barrelny.com

Jane Lee
Graphic design for KAFFNY logo and web banners.
http://web.mac.com/janelee319

Jane Song
Graphic design for KAFFNY flyer, poster and program.

Chung Tsang
Preliminary web management for KAFFNY website.