Producers / Directors: Diana S. Lee & Grace Yoon Kyung Lee
For decades, since the Korean War, thousands of Korean women have been working as prostitutes for American soldiers. In Camp Arirang, the filmmakers explore the lives of the sex workers and their fatherless Amerasian children who live in US camp towns throughout South Korea. Through interviews with the workers, soldiers, scholars and through contemporary and archival footage, the film reveals the story of how the Korean government and the US military have cooperated in the sale and control of women's bodies. Featured is a charismatic ex-prostitute, Yon Ja Kim, who now devotes her life to the welfare of older sex workers and their biracial children.
Best Video Documentary, Utah Short Film & Video Festival Margaret Mead Film Festival
1995, 28 minutes, documentary
College/Institution Purchase: $165 Rental: $50
For previews, please call (415) 552-9550 or e-mail distribution at naatanet.org
<http://www.naatanet.org/shopnaata/videos/title/C/camparirang.html> *****
***** CAMP ARIRANG Diana S. Lee & Grace Yoon-Kung Lee (28 min./Color/1995)
A gritty look at the camptowns surrounding U.S. militarybases in South Korea. This Hi-8 video documentary follows its main character, Yon Ja Kim, a charismatic 50 year old ex-sex worker through American Town, a government subsidized entertainment district for U.S. airforce personnel. Now a missionary devoted to aiding sex workers and running a daycare center for fatherless children, Ms. Kim takes the audience on a journey into her own past. code: asiandiaspora asia
Film Rental Film Sale Video Rental Video Sale N/A N/A $65 $225
English and Korean
<http://www.twn.org/record.cgi?recno=258> *****
***** Grace Lee's Films:
Running Time: 28 min. Country: USA/Korea Year: 1996 Producers/Directors Grace Lee and Diana S. Lee Format: Video For rental or purchase: NAATA Third World Newsreel
Synopsis
From "Hooker Hill" in Seoul to "American Town" near Kunsan Air base, thousands of Korean women have been working as prostitutes for American soldiers since the Korean War. CAMP ARIRANG explores the lives of Korean women employed as "special entertainers" for American GIs, many in conditions tantamount to indentured servitude. Verite and archival footage are combined with interviews of prostitutes, soldiers, and scholars to reveal a disturbing story of Korean and U.S. military collusion in the sale and control of women's bodies. Our guide is Yeon Ja Kim, 53, a charismatic ex-prostitute who now devotes her life to the welfare of older prostitutes and their fatherless Amerasian children. Kim leads us through "American Town", a government-subsidized entertainment district for American Air Force personnel. She shows us the VD clinic, bars, and discusses her own life in the camptowns over three decades. We later visit her home, recently converted to a daycare center for Amerasian children.
Crew Producer/Director Grace Lee and Diana S. Lee Videographer Diana S. Lee Editor Mary Beth Bresolin Consultant/Translator Katharine H.S. Moon Music Woody Pak & Probyn Gregory
Produced with grants from National Endowment for the Arts, National Asian American Telecommunications Association, Kentucky Foundation for Women, Center for Experimental Television, Fulbright Foundation
Distributors Third World Newsreel National Asian American Telecommunications Association
Screenings (partial listing) Broadcast on "Through the Lens" series, WBYE-TV (PBS) Philadelphia Free Speech TV (national public access program) "Contemporary Korean American Artists," Korean American Museum, Los Angeles Cinematexas, Austin, TX San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival Women in the Director's Chair Festival Margaret Mead Documentary Film/Video Festival Chicago International Film Festival - Intercom ; Winner Silver Plaque Documentary Asian Cinevision Videoscape: Asian American Video Showcase (NY) Visual Communications Asian Pacific Film Festival (LA) Finalist, USA Short Film & Video Festival (Dallas) Chicago Asian American Film Festival Best Documentary, Utah Short Film & Video Festival Central Florida Film & Video Festival Film Arts Foundation Festival (San Francisco) Documental series, Midnight Special Bookstore, Santa Monica, CA Second Asian American Film Festival, Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA Broadcast on Free Speech TV affiliates, December 1996 "Kijichon" (G.I. Town) Film Festival, Seoul, KOREA
The film is also used in courses on Korea, gender studies, political science.
<http://www.gracelee.net/films.cgi?film_id=1> *****
Katharine H.S. Moon, _Sex Among Allies: Military Prostitution in U.S./Korea Relations_, <http://www.ciaonet.org/book/moon/index.html>. -- Yoshie
* Calendar of Events in Columbus: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html> * Anti-War Activist Resources: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html> * Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/>