KAFFNY Infinite Cinema 20th Annual
KAFFNY INFINITE CINEMA — 20TH ANNUAL SHOWCASE
OPENING: GLOBAL CINEMA SHORTS (3:00 PM – 5:00 PM)
Filmmaker Q&A to follow
Pieces of Home
Taiwan, 2026 · 10 min
Pieces of Home is a single-channel animation that contemplates the quiet, repetitive rhythms of domestic life. Through a visual language of paper-like textures and reductive silhouettes, the work captures a parental figure immersed in the constant cycle of food preparation and caregiving.
Director: Ying-Fang Shen
Yellow Diary
Korea, 2025 · 23 min
Ki-woo, a professional book editor, discovers an unfamiliar yellow diary in his study. The narrator, Yeon, writes about a man she keeps encountering but is too hesitant to approach. Frustrated by her hesitation, Ki-woo reflexively leaves comments in red ink—only to find that as he edits the text, his own memories begin to change.
Director: Younjin Ko
I Confessed Today, and the World Ended
Korea, 2026 · 5 min (AI)
Just as a high school girl finally receives a positive response to her long-time crush, a zombie apocalypse erupts,turning her dream-like romance into a fierce survival struggle.
Director: Taejin Nam
Ban-Dal
Switzerland, 2025 · 22 min
A Swiss adoptive mother travels to South Korea to support her son in his search for his roots. But the meeting with his birth mother brings unexpected challenges and touches on old wounds.
Director: Hae-Sup Sin
Floating
Korea, 2025 · 27 min
At the turn of the millennium, Yunbeom, a print shop worker, takes his family to their hometown for one last visit before emigrating to the United States. 24 years later, Yunbeom and his daughter Yiyoung return alone, drifting through memories and tracing what remains.
Director: June Ji Yun Lee
SPOTLIGHT: AMERICAN CINEMA SHORTS (5:30 PM – 7:30 PM)
Filmmaker Q&A to follow
All the time
USA, 2026 · 15 min
Rose and Cole, two former lovers, reunite unexpectedly at a New Year’s house party and must confront their unresolved regrets as nostalgia resurfaces.
Director: Joshua Oh
Cuppa’ Joe
USA, 2026 · 9 min
Beneath the canned laughter of a 1950s sitcom, an Asian-Native Hawaiian couple navigates a dystopian allegory of diaspora, identity, and the cost of belonging in America.
Director: Pono Wong
I Wish I Were Pretty
USA, 2025 · 20 min (AI)
An insecure Korean-American woman struggles with old resentments against her beautiful best friend, exposing the impossible beauty standards that caused them.
Director: Hanah Chang
Planty
USA, 2025 · 9 min (NY Premiere)
The love story between a bird and a plant, and an animation made out of a flipbook.
Director: Leilei Xia
Elias
USA, 2025 · 16 min
On the night of his 21st birthday, a Korean-American son burdened by years of silent sacrifice spirals through Koreatown—haunted by the fear of becoming the father who left, and desperate to know if letting go is the only way to finally keep his promise to stay.
Director: Nicolas Chae
Embrace
USA/Korea, 2026 · 15 min
A year after her father’s funeral, a Korean American daughter returns home for the first time, only to find her immigrant mother has erased every trace of him and has chosen faith over memory.
Director: Youil Kim
CLOSING: NEW YORK CINEMA SHORTS (8:00 PM – 10:00 PM)
Filmmaker Q&A & 20-Year Toast
Tough Being Corky Lee
USA, 2026 · 4 min
This music video is a tribute to the late Asian-American Activist and photographer Corky Lee who documented the diverse Pan Asian community in the U.S. for over 50 years until he succumbed to Covid in 2021.
Director: George Hirose
Plastic Dream Makers
USA/Korea, 2026 · 20 min
Hyun, a disheartened international student filmmaker, and June, an immigrant actor, have been working together in a dilapidated restaurant in Manhattan for 2 years feigning proposals. As the restaurant closes, they face an unexpected final proposal show and an honest goodbye.
Director: Katherine Yeonwu Nam
Still 48 Degrees
USA, 2025 · 19 min
In New York’s bustling anonymity, Sul, a Korean transplant immersed in deep loneliness after moving to New York,spends her time in the bathtub—her only sanctuary—inflicting pain on her own body with burning water. When her mom comes to visit from South Korea, Sul is forced to confront their broken relationship.
Director: Julie Shin
Las Máscaras de Japón
USA, 2026 · 11 min
Las Máscaras de Japón explores the vibrant cultural bridge between Japan and Mexico through the art of professional wrestling masks, delving into the lives of master Japanese mask makers, collectors, and fans.
Director: Girard Tecson
Taemong
USA, 2026 · 6 min
During a pregnancy photoshoot, a woman sells her taemong – a baby conception dream – which contains a dark desire triggered by her past.
Director: Sophia S. Lim
The Yellow Plastic Bag
USA/Korea, 2026 · 19 min
A mother-daughter fight and a loss of orientation lead Jenny, a second‑generation Korean American, through a bizarre journey in rural South Korea while eluding a strange yellow plastic bag.
Lead/Producer: Mini Kim
