Asian Independent Cinema Showcase 2025
Vancouver Premiere of K-Family Affairs and Virtual Conversation with Director Arum Nam
Date: Thursday, April 3, 2025
Time: 18:30-20:00 (Film Screening); 20:00-20:30 (Virtual Q&A)
Venue: C300 Theatre, UBC Robson Square
Address: 800 Robson Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 3B7 | Map | Directions
Join director Arum Nam in her journey that delves into her parents’ integral roles in shaping Korea’s democratization. Her award-winning documentary K-Family Affairs uses their family history as a lens to examine the broader political landscape of the country. Director Arum Nam will share her filmmaking experience with the audience in the virtual post-screening conversation.
The film is in Korean with English subtitles. The post-screening conversation will be conducted in English.
All are welcome. Free admission.
Limited seats available. Registration required.
K-Family Affairs
Directed by Arum Nam | South Korea | 2023 | 90min | Documentary | Korean | English Subtitles
Synopsis:
Arum’s parents belong to the pivotal generation that led South Korea’s democratization through the student movements of the 1980s. Eager to pass on a better world to their daughter, her father chose the path of a public servant, while her mother became a feminist activist. Inspired by their commitment to building a better Korea, Arum embraced the idea of becoming a patriotic girl. But at the age of 18, Arum witnessed the Sewol ferry disaster—a national tragedy that claimed countless lives due to systemic failures. As she uncovered her father’s involvement in the aftermath, Arum began to question the democracy her parents’ generation had fought so ardently to establish. Through the lens of her family’s journey, Arum delves into the political history of South Korea, grappling with the role her own generation must assume.
About the Director:
Arum Nam is a documentary director from Seoul, South Korea, holds a Master’s degree in Documentary Filmmaking from the Korea National University of Arts. She directed a short documentary “Pink Femi”, which tells the story of a feminist mother, and codirected “Teleporting” with Japanese directors during the pandemic. “K-family affairs” is her first feature documentary.
About the Asian Independent Cinema Showcase:
The Asian Independent Cinema Showcase (AICS) is a UBC-based film festival that aims to foster a film appreciation community within and beyond the university; cultivate media literacy and cross-cultural understanding; and give voices to independent stories told by Asian filmmakers. Broadly speaking, an “independent film” is considered to be a creative work produced outside big or mainstream studios. Through the lens of independent cinemas, the AICS is committed to serve as a participatory platform for publication and dialogue between independent storytellers, underrepresented groups, cultural practitioners, emerging talents, academics, students, and members of the public.
The AICS is co-convened and co-organized by Dr. Helena Wu, Canada Research Chair in Hong Kong Studies, and Jimmy Lo, award-winning filmmaker and film educator, who is also a UBC alumnus (MFA Film Production ’24).
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More about the UBC Asian Independent Cinema Showcase
This event is part of the Asian Independent Cinema Showcase program; is supported by UBC Hong Kong Studies Initiative, UBC Department of Asian Studies, SFU Institute for Transpacific Cultural Research, and Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute x Taiwan Docs.
Special acknowledgement: Ying E Chi.