Seoul Searching was a great hit at its Los Angeles Film Festival Gala screening last week. Inspired by at the actual summer camp created by the Korean government during the ’80’s for foreign-born Korean teenagers to come to Seoul to learn about their culture and motherland, the film perfectly encapsulates the ’80s aura—and proves that a film starring an all-Asian cast can defy Hollywood stereotypes and succeed.

The real-life camp eventually was discontinued because the youth couldn’t be kept in control. (It was the ’80s—breaking rules was totally tubular, man.)

Director Benson Lee, Producer Andrea Chung, and actors Justin Chon, Tee Yeo, Jessika Van, Rosalina Leigh, Esteban Ahn, Albert Kong, and In-Pyo Cha were at the screening—and a number of cast and crew were in the audience—to discuss how the throwback film came to be.

Lee revealed that he used social media to help cast the film. Through an open casting call on Facebook, he found Leigh, who makes her acting debut in the film. And he found Ahn through the actor’s Youtube channel.

Chon said that the cast dynamic came when the director encouraged them to act naturally. “Things really started to click when Benson said, ‘Hey guys look, I cast you all for a reason. Don’t try to play a character or whatever you think it is. After he gave us that permission, it all started firing from there.”

Lee credited his collaborators with helping to establish the film’s tone. “Film is an amazing orchestra of talent that comes together that understands vision. But all I could give my crew though was the general direction and let things flow.”

Lee advocated for more Asian-American experience films and non-exaggerated Asian characters in film and television. In his introduction, he lamented the low percentage of Asians in film in general, and the extremely caricatured portrayals of Asians when they are represented. Seoul Searching’s characters come from around the world, with a multitude of backgrounds and experiences, which counters the stereotypical Hollywood image of Asians (there’s a character from Germany, one from Mexico, one from Britain, some from various parts of the US). “At the end of the day,” Lee said, “I want my kids or the kids of other Asian parents to see it and be like, ‘Hey, this is something we can all relate to.'”

Jade Estrada / Film Independent Blogger