KAFFNY invites the world to participate in creating the first platform for "Infinite Cinema." Culture is not a fixed point. The mere idea of a "tradition" can be used for inhuman purposes. By applying the concept of infinity, KAFFNY turns the dialogue to all those artists who recognize a needed deference to the concept of humanity, and away from any official definition of global culture.
KAFFNY's expertise in programming comes from the application of a third culture perspective, which is a proactive form of cultural awareness from the inside-out, rather than politically reactive. For the first ten years, KAFFNY honed this by looking at the condition of the Korean diaspora, showing films from five continents, with all kinds of ethnicities, characters, stories, genres and mediums.
Whether presenting works by documentary filmmaker Dai Sil Kim-Gibson, DJ Spooky’s live musical re-score of the 1956 seminal classic Korean film, “Madame Freedom,” pioneer video art by Nam June Paik, multi-faceted perspectives on the 1992 Los Angeles Riots, or a three-wall gallery projection dance party for a music film set to the entirety of Girl Talk’s definitive mashup album, KAFFNY moves across platforms to bring present the richest exhibition of the hidden intersections of global culture.
Originally founded in 2006 as the Korean American Film Festival New York, our festival venues include: Wythe Hotel Cinema, Village East Cinemas, TheTimesCenter, SVA Theatre, Chelsea Clearview Cinemas, Skirball Center at NYU, Anthology Film Archives, as well as gallery and outdoor public spaces throughout New York City. Our partners include: Ford Foundation (Good Neighbor Committee), Korean American Community Foundation, The Korea Society, CUNY Asian American/American Research Institute, Korean Association of New York Artists, Korea Times, The Korean Channel. KAFFNY is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
KAFFNY Infinite Cinema's mission is to allow the audience to connect stories that are often missing from the mainstream narrative, allow the audience to engage in dialogue with the content makers to fuse a new understanding of our world, and hopefully inspire our audience to repeat this process by seeking out new ways to connect to a culture outside their own. Which is KAFFNY's motto: CONNECT. FUSE. REPEAT.