Picture this day (if you can) – April 29, 1992. For a handful of our readers, this might (scarily) be before you were born. For others, this is the day the LA riots started and the Rodney King verdict was announced. Chaos ensued and for most of this we read this in our history books or saw recorded clips. 2017 marks the 25th anniversary of the LA Riots.
This brings us to Actor Justin Chon (Twilight, 21 & Over) who stepped into the role of director and writer of 2017 Sundance audience award winner Gook. The film takes place on this exact day and follows two Korean American Brothers: Eli (Justin Chon) and Daniel (David So) who work together to hold down the fort of their struggling shoe store. Meanwhile, Kamilla (Simone Baker) wanders into their store to hang out with them creating an unlikely trio. With Eli working on maintaining the livelihood of the shoe shop, Daniel wanting to become a recording artist, and Kamila who is caught in the middle of learning what’s going on around her, this is film that will push you to see a rough picture of the lifestyle that doesn’t get much attention in mainstream media.
Chon says, “Over the past several years, there has been a lot of talk about diversity, but that’s all it has been, TALK. As an artist, I believe that my true contribution to the issue of diversity is to create films I feel are important to the Asian American narrative. So for the past few years, my mantra has been create, create, create. […]
Through this project, I was able to represent two of the most underrepresented minorities in film…Asian American men and African American females. When I had the choice of either making my lead character a male or female, I found it to be a great opportunity to write in a resilient African American girl. My goal was to give the characters real wants and needs through three dimensional portrayals.”
The film will roll out nationally in theaters near you on August 25th. Check out the list of theaters below:
New York, NY at the Regal Union Square 14
Anaheim, CA at the Edwards Anaheim Hills 14
Berkeley, CA at the Landmark Shattuck Cinemas
San Francisco, CA at the Alamo Drafthouse New Mission
San Diego, CA at the Edwards Mira Mesa Stadium 18 IMAX & RPX
Washington DC at the Regal Majestic 20 & IMAX
Atlanta, GA at the Regal Atlantic Station Stadium 16 & IMAX
Honolulu, HI at the Regal Theaters Dole Cannery Stadium 18 & IMAX
Las Vegas, NV at the Regal Village Square Stadium 18
Portland, OR at the Regal Fox Tower Stadium 10
Houston, TX at the Edwards Greenway Grand Palace Stadium 24 & RPX
Seattle, WA at the Regal Meridian 16
Irvine, CA at the Edwards University Town Center 6
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