Monday, August 12, 2013

The Women Outside: Korean Women and the U.S. Military (1996)

WHO: J.T. Takagi & Hye Jung Park directed this documentary.

WHAT: I haven't seen this, but here's a succinct synopsis from a footnote in Glen Mimura's 2008 book Ghostlife of Third Cinema: Asian American Film and Video:
This film centers on the stories of several Korean women who were involved in the sex industry, and illuminates the industry's multitiered political economy, including the more than 180 "camp towns" set up and regulated by the U.S. Army.
WHERE/WHEN: Screens tonight only at the New Parkway at 7:00. Though the venue website lists the run-time as "unknown", its distributor Third World Newsreel indicates it as 60 minutes long.

WHY: This month is "Karma Cinema Month" at the New Parkway, which means that every admission ticket purchased has 30% of it donated to local non-profits. Not only that, all ticket prices this month are "pay-what-you-wish"; I wonder if this might result in a higher-than-usual overall box office take, even with that 30% going to charity?

Other movies screening at the venue right now include Before Midnight (currently showing on 35mm at the Opera Plaza, but shot digitally so perhaps the New Parkway's projection is preferable for some), Man of Steel, Kings of Summer and Much Ado About Nothing. The upcoming schedule also includes quite a few interesting options during the month, including a showcase of African and Haitian films called the Matatu Film Festival August 15-17. But tonight's screening of The Women Outside is not just a boon to the non-profits on the New Parkway's "Karma Cinema Month" list; it's also a co-presentation of the Alipato Project and the usual licensing fee to screen the doc has been waived by distributor Third World Newsreel in order to help audiences support the East Bay domestic violence-combating organization.

HOW: Digital presentation. I have been unable to determine whether this was shot on 16mm, or on analog video, or on another format.

2 comments:

  1. You posted this only 37 minutes before showtime. If I had read this the minute you posted it, I still could not have made it over to the New Parkway by showtime. That's too bad because I probably would have gone to this if I had been aware of it.

    I've been meaning to comment that I appreciate these daily posts. Sometimes you post about a film which I have already seen or have already made plans to see. Other times, you post about a film I have no desire to see. However, it's the posts about films that I am not aware of or I am on the fence about which have the most value to me...assuming you post in time for me to read about it and make arrangements to attend.

    You have assumed a great responsibility with these daily pronouncements. Maybe Super Chicken said it best when he cautioned Fred, his feline sidekick, "You knew the job was dangerous when you took it..."

    Aren't you going to list CAAMFest San Jose (August 16-18) in your sidebar section of film festivals?

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  2. I will now, thanks for the reminder!

    And thanks in general for the positive (and negative) feedback. The former certainly helps me stay motivated to keep plugging along on this daily-posting blog experiment.

    I try to have my posts lined up by midnight of the following day, but it doesn't always work as I planned. Once or twice I've noticed a post I thought I had scheduled to appear fail to do so, and had to go back and fix that. Not always easy when I hold down a job, see movies, try to have a social life, and am frequently on the go.

    That wasn't the case yesterday, I must confess. I just got bogged down in other things and had to throw this up in as little time possible. Unfortunately that was later than it would likely to be useful for anyone who wasn't a) already in downtown Oakland and b) obsessively checking this blog. I figured it was worth a post anyway, just to let readers know about "Karma Cinema Month". Sorry, and I will try to do better in the future!

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