Cross-cultural comedy

The Portland State Institute for Asian Studies and the Adult Korean Adoptees of Portland will present the film Wedding Palace Saturday, Nov. 19 at the PSU Recreation Center. Two of the film’s actors, Joy Omanski and Nancy J. Lee, will answer questions after the screening.

Wedding Palace follows L.A. advertising executive Jason Kim (Brian Tee), as he attempts to find a wife before his 30th birthday. An ancient family curse mandates that Jason get married before he turns 30—or else he loses his life.

Luckily for him, the perfect girl is out there. Not so luckily, she lives 9,000 miles away in Seoul, South Korea. Jason must wrestle with the challenges of a long-distance cyber relationship while simultaneously keeping his overbearing family at bay.

“There’s always been an interest in Korea at PSU,” said Katherine Morrow, program administrator for the Institute for Asian Studies. “What we’re seeing now is that students have taken an interest in Korean pop culture as well.”

Morrow said that Wedding Palace touches on important aspects of Korean culture contrasted with Korean-American culture and explores their similarities and differences in a humorous way. The film examines issues of family, history and cultural identity.

“I think PSU students will enjoy the film, whether they’re interested in Asia or Korea or just want to see an interesting story,” she said.

The screening marks the first collaboration between the institute and the Adult Korean Adoptees of Portland. The organization, founded in 2001, is a network for Portland-based Korean adoptees. The group hosts social events, holds monthly meetings and collaborates with local charities and nonprofits.

In January, Morrow met Kourtni Rader, the adult adoptee outreach director for the program, and the two discussed a possible collaboration. Rader later came to Morrow with the idea of co-hosting the Wedding Palace screening. Rader was able to raise money to fly out Osmanski and Lee for the post-screening Q&A.

The film was written, directed and produced by Christine Yoo, a graduate of the prestigious University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, who wrote the first draft of the screenplay in 1999. She pitched the film to several American studios as well as film companies in Korea, China and Japan.

Yoo said it was challenging for her to sell a film that explores two very different cultures.

“First, the Koreans simply didn’t get the American humor. Next, the executives at Warner Bros. in China liked the story, only they wanted it rewritten into an entirely different story,” she said. “Finally, after translating the script to Japanese and re-working the story with a Japanese main character, the main investor experienced cold feet.”

Yoo finally found success by turning to the Korean-American community in Los Angeles. She reached out to local Korean organizations and businesses in hopes of raising money for the film. Through a combination of corporate sponsorships and individual donations, Yoo reached her budget and began pre-production in 2008.

She also secured a grant from the Seoul Film Commission that allowed her to scout filming locations in Korea. She estimates that 30 percent of Wedding Palace was shot on location in Korea.

The Portland State screening represents the Pacific Northwest Premiere of Wedding Palace. Yoo won Best Independent Feature Film and Best Cinematography at the Cine Gear Film Series Competition in Hollywood. The film was featured in the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival as well as the Silk Screen Film Festival in Pittsburgh.

Yoo has also taken the movie to several college campuses, including the University of Southern California, Harvard, Wesleyan and Carnegie Mellon. An official nationwide release is planned for February 2012.

Morrow cited the Korean institute’s annual Korean Night as an example of just how popular Korean culture is becoming on PSU’s campus.

“We knew there was building interest in Korea because Korea Night always sold out,” Morrow said. “The Korean film industry in particular has really blossomed, and the movies are spreading all over the world.” ■