Tasteful. Intense. Exquisite.
All of these words describe my favorite Korean treats: Soju, Korean Bar-B-Que, and Andrew Ahn.
I first met Andrew Ahn at the 2011 Outfest mixer last year. He walked up to me and I was thinking, “Why is this tall, slender Korean male approaching me?” I’m usually mistaken for either Chris Evan’s body double or to be told that the way I’m staring at them is making their girlfriend uncomfortable, so I was prepared for what he had to ask. It turned out we had a lot of mutual friends in common and he was there for the premiere of his latest short film, Andy.
His CalArts thesis film, Dol (First Birthday), produced in Los Angeles, CA, has been officially selected as part of the Short Narrative Fiction Competition at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Dol is about a Korean-American man living with his boyfriend who finds himself yearning for a life out of reach at his nephew’s first birthday party – a dol.
The inspiration for the film is just as beautiful as the story itself – Andrew used this film to come out to his parents. About as dramatic and heart-stopping as the Korean soap operas I watch on Hulu – Andrew cast his own parents in the film without telling them what the story was about.
Move over, Boys Before Flowers.
When Andrew told me he got into Sundance it went something like this:
Andrew: So, I’m going to Sundance.
Me: Oh that’s cool! Are you going to see any films?
Andrew: Yeah… Mine.
Me: … O_o
I knew I had to talk to Andrew directly about this, so I picked the most hipster coffee shop in Silverlake, Intelligentsia, where we both wore plaid button ups, skinny jeans and slipons and drank $5 coffee.
Queerious? 