Watching films in Korea
Chapman Film Takes Bronze Medal at 2018 Student Academy Awards
UNDERSTANDING CULTURE AND CONTEXT By Janell Shearer
Professor Nam Lee leads a discussion with Korean director Yim Soon-rye.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honored 19 student winners from colleges and universities around the world at the 45th Student Academy Awards ceremony in October. The Gold, Silver, and Bronze Medal awards were announced and presented by Arthur Dong, Catherine Hardwicke, Kumail Nanjiani, and Patricia Riggen. Brian Robau’s (MFA/FP ’17) film Esta Es Tu Cuba, representing Chapman in the Domestic Narrative category, took home the Bronze Medal. This is Robau’s second Student Academy Award win; his last award came in 2016 when he took home the Silver Medal for his film It’s Just a Gun. Esta Es Tu Cuba is inspired by the real-life stories of the children involved in Operation Peter Pan (or Operación Pedro Pan), the mass exodus of over 14,000 unaccompanied minors from Cuba to America, and by the journey of Robau’s own father. “It’s his story of coming from Cuba to Miami as a boy during the Communist Revolution in Cuba,” Robau told the audience during his acceptance speech. “He was one of over 14,000 children that experienced this, and being able to make this film with [my father] has been one of the greatest joys of my life so far.”
Watching the Korean remake of a Japanese film, Little Forest, Dallas Worsham (BFA/SW ’21) was surprised by a narrative shift focusing more on the friends of the main characters, giving them much larger roles than they played in the original film. Speaking with Yim Soon-rye, the film’s director, at a “cinema camp” in Busan, Korea, Worsham and eight other Chapman students learned how she restructured the film to appeal to a young Korean audience that is much more socially oriented than their Japanese counterparts. The Transcultural Student Networking Cinema Camp included four schools: Chapman, Dongseo University in Busan,
Nanyang Technology University in Singapore, and Rikkyo University in Japan. Not only did the Chapman students learn about filmmaking in those countries, but also they had the opportunity to see work from throughout Asia and around the world during their week-long trip to the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF). Film Studies Professor Nam Lee led the Chapman delegation to the Cinema Camp, which she describes as “a great opportunity to exchange ideas and make friends with students from different cultures.” Professor Lee, who has taken students to Busan for many years, says that the festival is known “as a place to discover new films and filmmakers from Asia” and to learn about different filmmaking practices as they are influenced by culture and history. At the same time, students get a better perspective on what kinds of films appeal to their peers in Asia.
Melissa Zhuang (BFA/FP ’20) found that many films “talked about topics that are not openly discussed in their native cultures,” citing as an example, The Rib, a film about the cultural stigma against transsexuals in Chinese society. She observed that “countries with more reserved cultures featured longer silences, less dialogue, and quieter characters in their films. Instead, the scenery or the cinematography seemed to ‘speak’ more,” while “countries with less reserved cultures featured films with louder characters that spoke what was on their mind or featured graphic themes such as violence or nudity.” For Britney Lee (BFA/CRPR ’21), the trip gave her the unique chance to visit her mother’s hometown while exploring her own passion for film. She was particularly inspired by the varying stories of Asian filmmakers that are less available in the U.S. and to see greater representation of a wider variety of faces on screen.
In addition to seeing films from around the world, Chapman students also enjoyed visiting cultural sights in Busan, eating “live” octopus and endured a typhoon.
Robau also thanked Chapman University and his “fellow classmates, students, incredible teachers, and thesis advisor, Rachel Goldberg.” This is the fourth year in a row a Chapman film has been selected among the finalists in the Student Academy Awards. Additional recognition for Chapman students and alumni include Natalia Hermida’s (BFA/FP ’19) Transient Passengers (Experiment Number Nun), a finalist in the Alternative Category, and the following semifinalists: n
She Who Questions – Project S UK Short (director Rachel Lattin BFA/NWD ’18, Jordyn Romero BFA/NWD ’19, Elliot Powell BFA/FP ’18, Riani Astuti BFA/NWD ’18, Paloma Young ’18) n
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Some Nerve – Community Voices Documentary Film (director Megan Ernst BFA/TBJ ’18, Nikki Nahai BA ’20, Dora Wu MFA/DOC ’18, Emily Tapanes BFA/FP ’18) Snowball – Graduate Non-Thesis Film (director Paul Rivet MFA/FP ’19)
Adjunct Professor Peter Debruge, chief film critic for Variety, left, and Dean Bob Bassett greet Director Im Kwon-Taek, Korea’s most prolific director (102 films!) and namesake of the Dongseo University Im Kwon-Taek College of Film and Media Arts.
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