Mark Your Calendars, the 5th Annual Korean American Film Festival NY (KAFFNY) is Here!

In its fifth year, the 2011 Korean American Film Festival New York (KAFFNY) is bigger than ever. While mainly showcasing films that illustrate Korean American experiences, this year's program is as diverse as it is ambitious in its scope. Highlights include the first ever retrospective of Dai-sil Kim-Gibson - the pioneering Korean woman documentary filmmaker, Psychohydrography - a high-res 15,000 still image experimental film by Peter Bo Rappmund, Red Chapel - a Danish mock-doc comedy in North Korea, and The Boat - a Korean-Japanese co-production making its international premiere. There is an outstanding assortment of short films, too. For its opening night, they are reviving the Korean classic Madame Freedom (1956) with live music accompaniment by DJ Spooky. The festival runs March 17 through 20.

Full details and links below.

THURSDAY, 3/17
Chelsea Clearview, Theater 7
Opening Night:
6-8 Opening Reception
8-1030 Madame Freedom live rescore with DJ Spooky, performed by Okkyung Lee and Sean Lee
1045-1145 Psychohydrography

FRIDAY, 3/18
Chelsea Clearview, Theater 7
12-230 Shorts 2
3-530 Shorts 1
6-830 Shorts Competition
9-1130 Shorts 1

White Box (Free!)
6-9 Psychohydrography

SATURDAY, 3/19
Chelsea Clearview, Theater 7
130-3 Centre Forward
3-430 Red Chapel
5-8 Sa-I-Gu/Wet Sand/Olivia's Story + LA Riots 19 Years Later Discussion
830-1030 The House of Suh

Chelsea Clearview, Theater 8
12-130 KAFFNY Talks: Filmmakers Panel
2-430 A Forgotten People/Motherland
5-730 The Boat
8-1030 Shorts 2

White Box (Free!)
6-730 Compiled works by So Young Yang
730-9 The Woman, the Orphan, and the Tiger

SUNDAY, 3/20
Chelsea Clearview, Theater 7
12-2 Silence Broken
230-430 The Woman, the Orphan, and the Tiger
5-730 Shorts Competition
8-1030 The Boat

KAFFNY is an international independent film festival in New York City, starting with Korean American stories.  We began with a focus on short films by or about Korean Americans with our first festival at Anthology Film Archives in January 2007.  Through the past five years, at venues like the Skirball Center at NYU, TheTimesCenter, and SVA Theatre, KAFFNY has expanded its focus to include non-KA stories, films by Korean filmmakers from other countries, films by non-Korean filmmakers, and visual artists.  KAFFNY has helped out films like Planet B-Boy: for a successful first weekend in NYC, we screened a 10-minute preview to a crowd of 500, a few weeks prior to theatrical release.  Ultimately, our focus is good undiscovered or underpromoted films for the NY community.

For tickets and more information, visit KAFFNY website.