ANNOUNCEMENTS

During the 12th KFFC, AEW is proud to present the first full presentation of “Retrospective: Comfortless Trilogy” by Gina Kim (김진아) in North America.

Gina Kim’s three-part VR films — Bloodless (2017), Tearless (2021), and Comfortless (2023) explore the history of US military camp towns in South Korea. Using immersive VR storytelling, Gina Kim amplifies the voices of those silenced by imperialism and gender-based violence experienced by “comfort women” — a euphemistic phrase for women and girls forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army and subsequent US-South Korean military sex trade.

“Comfortless is not just a series of film, it is an act of remembrance,” Kim notes. “By using

immersive media, I invite audiences to walk through spaces that history would rather forget.”

‍Bloodless (동두천, 2017), which depicts the last day of a sex worker murdered by a U.S. soldier in South Korea in 1992, won the Best VR Story Award at the 74th Venice International Film Festival, the Best VR Film Award at the 58th Thessaloniki International Film Festival, and Best VR Short Film at the 15th Bogotá Short Film Festival.

Tearless (소요산, 2021) premiered at the Venice Film Festival and won the Best Immersive Work Award at the Geneva International Film Festival.

Comfortless (아메리칸 타운, 2023), supported by the Korean Creative Content Agency, Jeonju International Film Festival, UCLA Faculty Research Grant, and the UCLA Center for the Study of Women, also premiered at Venice and was showcased at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea in 2024.

Kim’s body of film and media work spanning 25 years have been showcased at Cannes, Venice,

Berlin, Sundance, and the MoMA, and were recently selected for preservation by the UCLA Film & Television Archive and LACMA. Having taught at Harvard University, she has been a professor at the UCLA School of Theatre, Film and Television since 2014.

Technical support provided by Ada X (@ada_x_mtl), a bilingual feminist artist-run center for media arts and digital culture.

DATE: June 11–14

LOCATION: Goethe-Institut Montréal (1626 Boul. Saint-Laurent

Ticket Price: $15 + taxes (also at the door).

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