Director Ilrhan Kim will be visiting UC Davis for a screenign of her film, Edhi Alice (2024). This event is sponsored by UC Davis East Asian Studies.

 

In Edhi Alice, director and queer activist Ilrhan Kim interrogates how documentaries about trans communities are made: the creative decisions, relationships, and ethical questions involved. The subject of the documentary is Edhi, who works as a counsellor for LGBTQ+ teens in Seoul, and has decided to undertake gender reassignment surgery. Edhi’s story intertwines with that of Alice, the lighting technician on the film crew and an older trans woman, who is preoccupied with challenging popular stereotypes about female and male bodies. This powerful and thought-provoking documentary refuses to compromise in its depiction of post-surgery recuperation, but offers an authentic portrayal of the trans experience and allyship in South Korea. Edhi Alice is a generous, delicate film and – courtesy of Alice’s lighting – a visually stunning one.

 

Ilrhan Kim is an award-winning South Korean filmmaker and the founder of PINKS, an association producing films about queer people and survivors of national tragedies. She primarily directs female-centric films. Kim won the 2018 Woman in Film of the Year award and has served as a juror at various festivals.

 

You can watch the trailer here. For more information, contact the organizers, Dr. Ga Young Chung and Dr. Richard Kim.