By Tara Kyle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
CHELSEA — From "Lost" and "Hawaii Five-O" to the "Harold and Kumar" franchise, Korean American actors are enjoying increased visibility on screen — but their counterparts behind the scenes will get their own chance to shine this week.
The five-year-old Korean American Film Festival New York (KAFFNY) kicks off Thursday night in Chelsea, with an array of features, shorts and documentaries created by local and international filmmakers.
The stories told include explorations of the lives of soccer players and comedians in North Korea, shopkeepers in Los Angeles and singles searching for love in New York.
One first time director, Andrew Pang of "Works of Art" said that, over the past decade, he's seen a spike in the output of Korean American writers, directors, editors and producers — particularly in the arena of short films.
"Right now, it's kind of a high time," said Pang, whose film features cameos by Paul Giamatti and "Lost" actor Ken Leung. "It's still a thing that has to grow more….so we can get our own stories out there."
These days, the content of those stories is also shifting.
When Pang, 44, studied drama at Yale in the 1990s, the films and television series that did feature Korean characters — like "The Joy Luck Club" and Margaret Cho's sitcom "All-American Girl" — focused on heritage, parental pressures and the past.
Now, he said, many Korean Americans want to tell stories simply about growing up and finding love in American cities and suburbs.
"Works of Art," which was written by and stars Pang's friend Paul Juhn, follows a struggling New York actor who tries to pass himself off as Japanese before going on a blind date.
It is, he said, as much an "ode to New York" as a Korean American story.
"We were all really hungry," Pang said of the years-long process of bringing the 17 minute film to life.
That hunger is something he hopes will continue to drive the Korean and broader Asian American film community.
"I think it's a growing entity and force," he said.
The Korean American Film Festival New York will screen films from March 17 to 20 at Chelsea Clearview Cinemas at 260 W. 23rd St., the White Box non-profit art space at 320 Broome St. and the Big Screen Project on Sixth Avenue between 29th and 30th Streets.
