Art and Cinema Collaborate on Korean War Documentary
What began as a small effort to document a few stories from veterans of the Korean War has grown into a much larger collection of oral histories from Korean War survivors – both veterans and civilians – in Korea and here in our Long Beach community. Soyeon Kim, Associate Professor of Animation in the CSULB School of Art, was initially inspired in this project by her late father – a historian born in North Korea who fled to the South on foot at age eight. In taking on this project, she found collaborative partners and interview subjects through the Meet a Veteran program at the Tibor Rubin VA Medical Center, located right next door to the CSULB campus.
As she expanded the people she interviewed, her collaborative partners grew to include Susan Bloom, Associate Professor in the CSULB Department of Cinematic Arts. Student filmmakers from both the School of Art and Cinematic Arts Department came on board and there are now more than 100 hours of interviews and footage.
It is anticipated that the final documentary film will be approximately 15 minutes long and completed in the summer of 2026. In addition to the film, however, Soyeon and Susan aim to create a Korean War Oral History Archive consisting of 10-minute episodes, with an initial plan for a first series of eight episodes, on the potential to expand. Soyeon says, “The project will continue as long as there are more stories to document and to preserve.”
For this Veteran’s Day, a brief trainer was created to share in honor of the holiday and to show some of the progress to the veterans and survivors who have shared their stories. You may view the trailer here.
