Sexual minorities color themselves via film

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Sexual minorities color themselves via film

Posted : 2011-05-31 15:46

Updated : 2011-05-31 15:46

Ned Farr’s lesbian tale “A Marine Story.”

By Patricia Kim

The rainbow flag will be flying higher than ever, as the 2011 Seoul Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender/sexual Film Festival (SeLFF) opens its 10th celebration in Jongno, central Seoul, Thursday.

SeLFF addresses the big question, “Isn’t it time to color yourself?” It is at once a suggestion, demand and simple question that complement this year’s theme, “Color Your SeLFF,” say organizers. Here the word “color” denotes different sexual orientations.

The festival, which continues through June 8 at Seoul Art Cinema, will present 24 international and domestic feature films.

“Ashamed” (2010), a story illustrating a young pickpocket’s involvement with mock suicide, will open this year’s event at 7 p.m., Thursday.

The movie, directed by Kim Su-hyun, brings a new approach to depicting the emotion of love through three women all named Ji-wu. It presents a unique narrative structure as it jumps from fiction to reality to trace their memories. The piece was invited to the 2010 Busan International Film Festival and the 2011 Berlin International Film Festival.

Other films will be presented through three thematic sections: hot pink, the six-color rainbow and a special section.

Hot pink films comprise of works that attracted the most attention among festival organizers and are highly recommended by programmers. The rainbow section offers films that represent the six hues, each of which hold different meanings: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet.

A piece worth noting in the hot pink selection is “A Silk Letter” (2010) by Kang Sang-woo. The movie is about a man, Seong-won, who ends up in jail after writing a “silk letter” objecting to mandatory military recruitment.

It is based on Kang’s own experiences and the director is currently in jail as a consequence of his refusal to serve in the military. A renowned pacifist, he is an active member of an antimilitarist group.

The weeklong festival will close its curtains with Ned Farr’s lesbian tale “A Marine Story.” Alex, a tough female marine officer stationed in Iraq, comes back to her conservative U.S. hometown. There she must prepare Saffron, a teenage meth-addict, for boot camp. During the course of the mission, however, the true reason behind Alex’s return endangers the future of both women.

The movie pinpoints the U.S. military policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” on sexual minorities and has won numerous film festival awards including the grand jury prize at Outfest, a gay and lesbian cinema event in Los Angeles.

Farr had been participating in SeLFF since 2007 when his first full-length film, “The Gymnast,” screened as the closing film.

Movie tickets can be purchased for 5,000 won onsite at Seoul Art Cinema, which is located on the fourth floor of Nakwon Sangga near Jongno3-ga Station, subway lines 1, 3 and 5. Purchases can also be made online at movie.yes24.com, www.maxmovie.com, or www.ticketlink.co.kr.

Also available are one-day passes that entitle holders to an unlimited number of screenings. These cost 10,000 won on weekdays and 15,000 won on weekends. The passes, however, cannot be used on the opening and closing days.

For more information, visit www.selff.org or call 0505-303-1998.

The writer is an intern at The Korea Times.

pkim@smith.edu Article List