THE SUNDANCE KID

SUNDANCE: A Talk With Andrew Ahn, The Director Who Came Out To His Parents Through His Film “Dol”

Over the next week, Evan Mulvihill will be reporting on the best gay-interest screenings, parties and panels at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. (PS: Check in on our sister site, GayCities, if you’re there!)

 

We all have a coming-out story: the porn stash your father found that forced your hand, the tearful family gathering where you just couldn’t keep it in anymore, the tender moment shared with a confidant over the phone. But director Andrew Ahn’s exit from the closet is a decidedly different one—he did it by casting his conservative Christian Korean-American parents in his queer short, “Dol (First Birthday).”

“Dol” follows Nick, a first-generation gay Korean-American who goes to his nephew’s traditional first birthday party, leaving his live-in boyfriend at home.

Ahn’s asked his real parents to play Nick’s parents in the short, but they didn’t realize he was identifying with the main character and trying to tell them he was gay.  In this exclusive interview, Ahn discusses breaking the news and how they reacted.

Watch the full version of “Dol” on Yahoo Stream.

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