[KS] surgery and korea - a documentary

Elizabeth Lee bethelee at hotmail.com
Mon Nov 8 14:58:31 EST 2004


Hello,
I hope this e-mail finds you well.

About a year ago I sent out a message to the listserv asking if people knew 
how to get footage from Miss Korea pageants so I could integrate the clips 
into the documentary on cosmetiic surgery I was working on.  Well, I 
completed the documentary this summer and received positive feedback on the 
rought cut at the Fulbright forum in June, and on the finished version at 
two later screenings in Seoul and Chuncheon.  I just moved to Los Angeles, 
and got the chance to see it screened at the Korean International Film 
Festival.  In the past month I have sent it to Sundance (the world cinema 
documentary category) and the San Francisco NAATA film festival as well as 
the Chicago Asian American film festival; I am waiting in the next few 
months to hear if it has been accepted.  In the future, I am  looking at 
other Asian-American film festivals, as well as several women's film 
festivals in Korea, Japan, France and Canada.

This connection between cosmetic surgery and Koreans is getting really hyped 
up these days, especially after 60 minutes did a piece on it, and Oprah had 
a show where she made disparaging remarks about Korean women, calling them 
fashion and surgery-obsessed.  I have always been bothered by the 
supersensationalism and the Westercentric ways this issue has been 
approached in the past, and I integrate these themes into my piece.  With 
all this recent stir, I feel impelled to get it out there now, more than 
ever.  So the big question I'm facing right now is finding alternate 
vehicles of distribution. My background has largely been in print media so I 
am new to the Asian American media distribution market.  Does anyone have 
any suggestions of what direction I should go?
Can anyone suggest avenues (even within the film festival route)?

Here is some info about the film:

title: good for her
sponsor:  fulbright
director/editor: elizabeth lee
running time: 55 minutes

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this.  I would love to hear your 
ideas.
Warm Regards,

Elizabeth E. Lee






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