Film Festival
November 17-21
In this year’s 16th annual KAFFNY festival, we’re going virtual and the films will be streamed online from November 17th to November 21st screening from our International Short Film Competition and Feature Film Competition. The program is entirely from submissions only. Meet our COMPETITION JURY.
We will premiere and launch the films to our site on November 17th. Due to the economical impact on the creative industry in recent times, we want to share our program to our audience with no set ticket prices, and only ask for open donations from those who are able to give.
Below is our schedule and program of films that are in our official selection. Please take a look at these films and sign up to get an access code to stream the films during the festival.
Sign up for the access code and donate at: kaffny.eventbrite.com
INTERNATIONAL Short film competition
The following films are selections for the KAFFNY 2022 short film competition. 1) Click the “sign up for access” button and you’ll be emailed an access code. 2) Click the “watch the shorts competition” button to view the films below for the duration of the festival dates on 11/17 to 11/21.
A Father’s Son
by Patrick Chen(USA 2022, 23:29)
A story-spinoff based on author Henry Chang’s crime novel series of NYPD Detective Jack Yu. Set in the early ’90s when local street gangs terrorized Manhattan’s Chinatown, our story centers on Jack Yu investigating the murder of a teenage boy involved in a turf war. Amidst the broad distrust and racial divide between the Chinatown community and NYPD, our lone lawman searches for a nondescript immigrant family to deliver a shattering message that also brings forth his own conflicted relationship with Jack’s father.
BIO
Patrick Chen is a filmmaker from Queens, New York. His works typically draws from the lives of Asian American characters. He attended Hunter CUNY where he studied writing and film.
His films were accepted and screened at various film festivals, e.g. CAAMFest, LAAPFF, and Asian Cinevision, and featured on Xfinity, Museum of Chinese in America, and Sinovision.
You may find his additional works as Chén Xí Háo 陳錫豪.
For more Info: https://linktr.ee/chenxihao
An Island Drifts
by Vivian Ip (USA/Singapore 2021, 18:32)
Set in Singapore, a young teacher presses for the truth from a maladjusted student, the act leads to devastating results and they suffer the ignominy of losing everything that matters to them. The story holds a mirror up to society, where a mistake can derail a life in an overly pressurized world.
BIO
Vivian Ip is a writer, director and producer, from Singapore. She holds a Bachelor of Laws with Honors from Durham University (United Kingdom) and worked as a corporate lawyer for four years.
She has since adapted her legal skills to filmmaking and graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts on an Entertainment Partners scholarship. She is also a member of the BAFTA Los Angeles Newcomers Program and an alumna of the ARRI Support and Education (ARRIse) Program.
Most recently, she made her directorial debut with her graduate thesis film An Island Drifts (2021), filmed with love in her home country. In addition, she produced Headlock (2020), a Student Academy Awards finalist, an official selection in Dances with Films and Urbanworld Film Festival, and a USC First Look winner in the Social Change category, whereupon she also received the Best Producing Award.
Her filmmaking practice is centered on exploring the human condition, as well as bringing authentic and underrepresented voices to the forefront.
Revival
by Josh Han (USA 2021, 16:00)
Luke Kim, a young Korean American drug dealer, is pressured by his friends and his desperate circumstances to get back at a rival drug dealer encroaching on their business . They decide on robbing an offering from this rival who happens to attend the same church where his estranged father ministers. As the plan commences, Luke attempts to balance his desire to attain the money and the need for his father’s love/acceptance. This becomes more difficult when the plan goes awry and Luke is forced to choose which direction he wants his life headed.
BIO
Josh Han is a senior, Korean American, directing student at Temple University. Being a lifelong fan of movies, it wasn’t until his freshman year of college that he began delving into the world of creation and hasn’t stopped since. Writing/directing are his favorite aspects of production and sees himself continuing this route after college. Josh’s work mostly centers around drama and interpersonal conflict but is based on widely varied premises that adhere to different genres.
The Sun Shines On
by Aarti Trikannad (UAE 2022, 11:32)
Forced into a life she never wanted, a woman leaves everything behind to start again. This is until her now teenage daughter tracks her down looking for answers.
BIO
Aarti is the co-founder of a women’s startup called UnSquare Films based in Dubai, U.A.E. She has completed her MA in Cinematography from MetFilm School, London.
Her strength lies in emotionally connecting to the characters, in-depth research to craft personalized camera techniques unique to tell the story and finding the perfect frames. She is an expert at solving production challenges and delivering quality work within tight deadlines..
She has won several accolades for her work. Having a wide range of work on her portfolio, such as Documentaries, TV Shows, Web-series, Short Films, Commercial and Corporate Videos.
Those Seven Steps
by Pavitra Verma (USA 2022, 16:55)
Wronged by her family and forced into an arranged marriage, a despondent Indian bride carries out her dangerous escape on the eve of her wedding in an attempt to return to her former life in India.
BIO
Pavitra Verma is a 20 year old student writer, director and editor from India, currently based in Los Angeles. He is currently studying at the New York Film Academy, where he is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Filmmaking.
Inspired by his own heritage as an Indian, he likes telling visually dense, character-driven stories about parent-children relationships, ethical dilemmas and human vices, amongst others kinds of topics.
Pavitra was also selected to be a part of the Class of 2022 in the Gold Rising Talent Development Program hosted by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.
His most notable works include Those Seven Steps (2022), Sandalwood (2020) and Wilco, Ma’am (2020).
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM COMPETITION
The following films are selections for the KAFFNY 2022 feature competition, each preceded by a short film. 1) Click the “sign up for access” button and you’ll be emailed an access code. 2) Click the “watch the feature competition” button to view the films below for the duration of the festival dates on 11/17 to 11/21.
Misha
by Brian Song (USA/Uzbekistan 2020, 1:07:00)
The tragic story about the greatest football(soccer) player that most have never heard of. Mikhail “Misha” An was the descendants of the Koryo Saram, Koreans living in the Russian Far East, who were forcible removed by Joseph Stalin and persecuted during war times. They went through many obstacles, but through perseverance they were able to fight through and be accepted. Misha went through a similar journey. Labeled too small to play, he had to work harder to be able to compete with other players, but ultimately he was able to achieve success as he was selected captain of his club team and selected to this Soviet National Team. But August 11, 1979 – who unknowingly sealed An’s fate. Mikhail never liked flying. He almost didn’t take the fateful flight. That day, Leonid Brezhnev’s flight path was ordered cleared of all commercial flights – leaving the other routes dangerously over-crowded. His plane was involved in a mid-air collision with another plane. Everyone on the plane perished on that fateful day.
BIO
Brian Song was born in Philadelphia and is a proud graduate of Florida State University. Brian has worked primarily as a producer in the commercial world, producing spots for P & G, Tesla, Robyn Wright, Garnier, Ralph Lauren, and many more. His first project as a director is titled “Misha” the tragic story of the greatest soccer player that you’ve never heard of. He likes to explore Korean Diaspora themes and stories and his next project in the cue is about Japanese/Korean baseball great Isao Harimoto, the ONLY professional baseball player to survive the atomic bomb in Hiroshima. He is the Executive Producer of his own production company called Good One, Inc. www.goodoneinc.com
Preceded by…
Sonnet Crown for NYC
by Xiao Han (USA 2021, 23:00)
BIO
Xiao Han (Director) is a freelance filmmaker, director, and editor. A graduate of NYU Tisch School of The Arts Film & Television Production, he tells stories that convey the perspectives of his generation, especially those surrounding environmental issues. Xiao lives in New York City.
Junho
by David Seok Hoon Boo (USA/Korea 2021, 1:43:48)
Juhno wanted nothing more than to be a great actor. But when his prestigious acting troupe in Korea is rocked by a #MeToo scandal, he escapes to San Francisco, to start a new life. Unlike Junho’s attempt to overcome loneliness, isolation and the loss of his best friend Jin, who was a victim of the scandal, his transgression from the past dislocates him from the present.
BIO
David Seok Hoon Boo is a Korean American Writer/Director, born in Atlanta, Georgia, and raised between the United States and South Korea. David started studying Film at Dongguk University. During his time there David wrote, directed, and edited five short films and participated in multiple independent productions.
In the fall of 2017, David enrolled in San Francisco Art Institute’s MFA program, where he wrote and directed three short films. ‘The Market Between Us’, had its official screening at the Another Hole in the Head – Film Festival, SF (2018). ‘Z, Not Mr.Z’ won the Anne Bremer 1st Prize(Best of SFAI MFA Exhibition 2019).
David, along with other filmmakers in the Bay Area formed a group called the Bay Area Film Collective. Their mission is to develop and nurture a variety of independent projects in the Bay Area. With the help of the collective and his Korean colleagues, David began developing his first feature, JUNHO.
Preceded by…
Save Me a Dance
by Kevin V. Doan(USA 2021, 4:04)
A short tale of identity in the aftermath of a first real heartbreak in the season of Chinese New Year.
BIO
Kevin V. Doan is a filmmaker and photographer based in New York, New York where he specializes in the creation of media in the commercial space working primarily with musicians, brands, and magazines. His narrative work appears in and has shown in the Los Angeles Film Festival, Orlando Film Festival, and more.
instagram @haveparis @kvdoan
Deliverance
by Kelvin Shum (Hong Kong 2022 , 1:46:00)
A fractured family of four brothers & sister confronts haunting memories of their mother’s passing 15 years ago.
15 years had passed, Nicole (Summer Chan) returns home to Hong Kong reuniting with her three brothers, gradually clinging onto the shattered memory from the night of her mother’s passing. Through hypnosis sessions with her big brother Joseph (Simon Yam), the trauma that the family sustained is unexpectedly reawakened when she desires to connect back with the memories. Then the whole world around this family takes on a dark form and love becomes almost undefinable.
BIO
Kelvin was born in Hong Kong and raised in Melbourne, Australia, from an early age, fluent in three languages, now 30 years old, a new wave director of Hong Kong.
In his first year in the university, Kelvin was a member of the drama committee. During his following years in the university, he was involved in over ten theater productions at a professional level in Australia, taking up the roles of both actor and director. Meanwhile, he also followed and learned from his directing peers in the Australian film & TV industry, which gave him various opportunities to acquire and accumulate foundational knowledge of running a video production and gaining understanding of the mindset of storytelling.
In 2013, after pursuing further study in Shanghai Theater Academy, Kelvin ventured to Los Angeles, undertaking the Directing Program to further refine his craft. During that time and after he had graduated he had worked under various studio pictures, indie pictures and commercials as assistant director, director, producer etc. Working on different genres and style of productions.
Kelvin’s work ”WE SHALL OVERCOME” in 2019 won many international awards at festivals, for ”Best Director”, “Best Thriller”, ‘’Best Cinematography” and ”Best Ensemble Cast”. Through the experience of many productions and his background to theater, he built up a solid ground for the skills of Directing in video productions.
In 2020 Kelvin returned to Hong Kong from Los Angeles, after a year in writing with his brother Kyle Shum. He then directed his first feature film finishing production in 2022, “Deliverance”. This film marked his debut as a feature Film Director.
Preceded by…
Modo Island
by Haeryun Kang (Korea 2022, 8:38)
At the height of COVID-19, the erotic sculpture park on Modo Island is nearly empty, like the nearby Incheon Airport, which is South Korea’s largest. The film juxtaposes images of the human body with the stone, both limited by their physical realities as literal and figurative islands, trapped within a perpetual longing for flight.
BIO
Haeryun Kang is a filmmaker and journalist based in Seoul, South Korea and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her first film, Ahyeon’s Rooftop, premiered at the Seoul International ALT Cinema and Media Festival in 2020. Before moving to the American Midwest, she experimented with videography in Korean media startups, including as the creative director of InterV, a short documentary brand focusing on community engagement, and the managing editor of Korea Exposé, a journalism startup highlighting underrepresented Korean stories in English. As a journalist, her work has appeared on NPR, Washington Post, Time and the cover of Rolling Stone. Haeryun is interested in documentary films that explore memory, changing subjectivity in the era of climate change, and the limitations of the body.