ANDREW AHN

I first watched Andrew Ahn’s work when I saw his stunning short DOL (FIRST BIRTHDAY), which premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and won Grand Jury Award Outstanding Narrative Short Film at Outfest. This subtle and beautiful short follows a closeted Korean-American who goes home to attend his nephew’s ‘Dol’ (first birthday), and finds himself yearning for a life just out of reach. In his own words, Andrew made this film as a way to come out to his parents, as he cast his real family in the short and had to show the finished film to them afterward. Following Dol, Andrew directed his feature debut SPA NIGHT, which was an official selection of 2016 Sundance’s Film Festival. This sensual and gorgeously filmed narrative feature follows a young Korean-American (played by Joe Seo) who works to reconcile his sexual desires with his obligations to his immigrant family, as he navigates the underground world of gay hookups in Korean spas in LA. Andrew has also directed episodes of FX’s PRIDE, HBO Max’s GENERA+ION and Netflix’s GENTEFIED. Oh, and did I mention I also just found out we went to the same college? What more could you possibly need by way of a strong recommendation to check out his work?

—MImi Li