Filmmaker So Yun Um and I are about 30 minutes deep into a discussion about the complicated relationship between Korean and Black Americans, particularly in Los Angeles, when she offers a memory. It’s about a Korean American friend of hers who was walking down the street in New York when a Black person held him up and stole his AirPods.
It’s noticeably difficult for her to share — in part because of the racial trauma it elicits and because she acknowledges that anti-Blackness is prevalent in the Korean American community, and that experiences like this are too often seen as a validation for it.
“For him, I’m sure he’s thinking, Oh man, how do I not blame this?” Um told me on a video call. “Sure, the person that attacked me was Black, but how do I not make it a blanket statement? Because I know that that is not correct, and it could be a one-off incident.”
These are the types of complexities she also grapples with in “Liquor Store Dreams,” her feature directorial debut that is at once personal — she grew up the child of Korean immigrants who owned a liquor store — and expansive. It celebrates her history and community and both challenges it to unlearn ingrained stereotypes and invites wider audiences to see their humanity.
“In the very beginning, my only goal was to make a film that was true and that is for Korean people,” Um said. “I never really thought or anticipated that the film would reach so far.”
That’s the thing about filmmaking, though. Even the most specific story could have a profound effect on other viewers. Particularly, in this case, Black audiences that have skin in the narrative.
Ken Lubas via Getty Images
“Liquor Store Dreams,” which premieres on PBS on July 10, could have really existed in any era.
Most prominently, the 1991 murder of 15-year-old Black…
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