If you missed the screening of this documentary in January 2025 – or even if you didn’t – a trip to Mile End is well worth it.
Screening: K-Family Affairs (2023)
Filming her civil servant father and activist mother who met during the pro-democracy movement in 1980s South Korea, director Nam Arum traces their political awakenings as well as her own across national protests and living room debates alike.
Born on the very day that trials of South Korea’s former military regime began, with presidential elections falling every five years on her birthday, Nam’s life has been closely interwoven with the nation’s political history. The 2014 Sewol ferry disaster marks a rupture: as familial and national narratives begin to unravel, she confronts the question of how to situate herself within—and against—the histories she has inherited.
Winner of the Jury Award at the Taiwan International Documentary Festival, Nam’s feature debut is a playful yet critical reflection on the entanglements of family and nation, where the Korean title “Patriot Girl” speaks less to fervent jingoism than to a collective responsibility that we have to each other and to future generations.
Co-presented with Jiambbong, with introduction given by Emily Jisoo Bowles.
About the Director
Arum Nam is a documentary director based in Seoul, South Korea. Currently pursuing a master’s degree in documentary at the Korea National University of Arts. She directed a short documentary called Pink Femi, which tells the story of a feminist mother, and co-directed Teleporting with Japanese directors during the pandemic. K-Family Affairs is her first feature documentary.
About Jjambbong film club
Jjambbong is a pop-up community cinema dedicated to showcasing all kinds of Asian cinema. Jjambbong is a Korean-Chinese seafood soup, as well as a slang term in Korean for a mix of everything, which is reflective of our hybrid programming. Through discussion, food, and fansubbing, we hope to open up a space for inter-diaspora solidarity and critical cinephilia. Follow Jjambbong at @jjambbongfilm
Emily Jisoo Bowles is a British-Korean film critic and a programmer at Queer East Festival. They are interested in alternative forms of film exhibition and how cinema can be used as a tool for political change.