“FOR ELLEN” | writer-director, So Yung Kim
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Saturday, January 21, 5:30 pm –Library Center Theatre, Park City]
I was lucky enough to fall into filmmaking. I tried other art forms like painting and performance, but there was something lacking. Then I helped my husband Brad make his first feature film. I found the experience inspiring and so I began to make my own films.
With each film I have been learning, not just about filmmaking, but also about life and myself.
I started to write For Ellen when I was filled with anxiety and doubts about being a decent parent, a loving partner, and a filmmaker. Our daughter had just turned two-years old and we were struggling with the release of our second films. My anxiety was great. This led to thoughts of my own father whom I had only met once before when I was five. For the first time in my life, I felt a need to understand him better. While imagining why a man might leave his family, a character began to take shape. I was curious about the affect this father’s return could have on his child and himself. Through this investigation, Joby Taylor, a young struggling musician, came to be.
I am incredibly thankful for the journey each film has allotted me, particularly my current film For Ellen. My dream is to keep making films and to learn from the process. And I hope to share that journey with an audience.
