Seven-year-old Queenie, an Asian girl, races through New York City’s towering skyscrapers as if they were her own personal playground. She treats the city like a giant treasure hunt, sifting through discarded trash for valuable items and diligently saving money by selling roses to passersby. The short film “Closing Dynasty,” which highlights the economic struggles of Asian immigrants through a child’s perspective, won the Crystal Bear for Best Short Film in the Generation Kplus category at last year’s Berlin International Film Festival. Korean-Canadian director Lloyd Lee Choi shared, “I was inspired by a six-year-old I saw on the New York subway. The memory of that child, confidently collecting money from passengers all on his own, stayed with me for a long time.”
Korean-American directors like Lee Isaac Chung of “Minari” and Celine Song of “Past Lives” continue to bring fresh, rarely explored narratives to the screen. In search of the next “Minari,” the CJ Cultural Foundation, Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), and Korean Film Council (KOFIC) launched the “CJ & TIFF K-Story Fund.” This initiative is dedicated to nurturing and supporting Korean Canadian and Korean American filmmakers in North America. Last November, they received around 70 screenplays through an open call, ultimately selecting eight for the first round and providing them with about four months of mentoring. On September 8th, during TIFF, three projects were awarded creative grants totaling 30,000 CAD (approximately 30 million won). These three filmmakers, now set to follow in the footsteps of directors like Chung and Song, were interviewed about their upcoming projects.
Director Lloyd Lee Choi was selected by the K-Story Fund for his script “Prodigy,” which tells the story of a young golf prodigy and his strict father, determined to mold his son into a professional golfer. The script is deeply personal for Choi, who was once a promising young golfer himself. At one point, he was scouted by Tiger Woods’ swing coach and labeled a prodigy, but he quit golf at sixteen, leading to significant conflict with his father. Choi reflected, “I never truly loved golf.” He added, “Children of immigrant families often feel immense pressure to succeed, knowing their parents sacrificed so much for a better life in a foreign land. I wanted to explore a father-son relationship that constantly walks an ethical tightrope, pushing it to an extreme.”
Joanne Mony Park, a director from Los Angeles, planned “The Windiest Day,” a film about Naru and Deogi, two women working as designated drivers in Koreatown. To Park, Koreatown is an economic hub providing jobs for Koreans and a spiritual center offering a strong sense of community. Spending a lot of time in Koreatown growing up, Park shared, “I spent a lot of time in the car with my father, a truck driver, and my mother, who delivered Korean newspapers.” She added, “I’ve always been captivated by the contrast between the quiet early mornings in LA and the vibrant, neon-lit nightlife of Koreatown. For decades, Koreatown has been a place where Koreans could find everything they needed without even needing to learn English.”
Director Arom Choi, who was born in Ulsan, South Korea, and lived as a nomad in various parts of the world, including Australia, Thailand, and Europe, submitted the screenplay “Soledad and Faith” to the K-Story Fund. The story explores the friendship between a Mexican woman who cleans up after solitary deaths and a Korean woman considering euthanasia due to a brain tumor. Choi said, “This isn’t just a Korean issue; in the U.S., the number of middle-aged people living alone is rising, with many struggling with economic difficulties and loneliness. Through this film, I wanted to explore the fear of being forgotten and the pervasive loneliness that comes with it.”
All three directors have chosen to spotlight marginalized characters rarely seen in film. Arom Choi remarked, “When a Korean immigrant is the main character, the focus is often on their immigrant identity, but I wanted to create characters who exist beyond that label.” Joanne Mony Park added, “During script mentoring, I really considered how to make my characters stand out. Given the diversity within the Asian community, it’s essential to develop unique, distinctive characters.” TIFF’s Chief Programming Officer, Anita Lee, praised the selected films, saying, “These fresh stories boldly capture the complex and nuanced lives of Korean immigrants from a new perspective.”
