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Korean Shorts Invited to Sundance Film Festival 2021
KKUM and AVA FROM MY CLASS to Screen in Park City
The yearly film festival calendar will be kicking off once more with the Sundance Film Festival and while this virtual edition is bound to be a very different kind of event in the midst of the global pandemic, a number of Korean shorts have made it into the lineup of the prestigious fest. The animated shorts KKUM from KIM Kang-min and Sasha LEE’s US-Korea co-production Misery Loves Company, as well as the US-Korea co-produced live action short Ava from My Class from KANG You-min will all screen (virtually) in Park City, Utah.
KKUM is the latest film from acclaimed animation director KIM Kang-min, whose previous works, including Deer Flower (2016) and JEOM (2018), have been awarded at events around the world. His latest describes how a mother’s dreams feature strong premonitions for important moments in her son’s life. KKUM picked up the Nelvana Grand Prize for Independent Short at the Ottawa International Animation Festival as well as the Grand Prize 'Star of Indie’ from the Indie-AniFest: Korean Independent Animation Film Festival. The film has also screened at Fantasia, Black Nights Tallin and BiFan among many other events.
Misery Loves Company focuses on the character Seol-gi, whose mind is invaded by intrusive thoughts as a shooting star falls above her. In her mind, her melancholy blooms into ‘flower people’ who wish for the world to come to an end. The film picked up the Prize for First Flight at the Indie-AniFest: Korean Independent Animation Film Festival and also screened at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFan).
Ava from My Class follows a diffident young girl named Anna who admires her classmate Ava, whom she regards as the best student in her acting class. KANG’s film debuted in the Wide Angle section of this year’s Busan International Film Festival.
Next year’s Sundance Film Festival will take place between January 28 and February 3.
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KIM Kang-min
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KANG You-min
