EDEN (centerpiece film)

Directed by Megan Griffiths

Asian American Panorama / USA / 2012 / Drama, Suspense / 98 mins / English with English subtitles / DCP

EDEN (Centerpiece Film)

UltraStar Mission Valley
November 4, 2012 7:00 pm Box Office Only

Description

Audience Award, 2012 SXSW Film Festival
Best Actress, 2012 Seattle International Film Festival

Director Megan Griffiths and Actress Jamie Chung scheduled to attend.

Korean American teenager Hyun Jae (Jamie Chung) is not much different from your typical teen, desiring her freedom and satisfying her rebellious spirit by smoking cigarettes behind her parents’ shop. One night, she sneaks into a bar with a fake ID and catches a ride home with a handsome stranger. But she never makes it home that night. Hyun Jae is abducted and taken to an underground brothel in the middle of the New Mexico desert, where she is given a new name: Eden. Without time even to gasp for air, she’s thrown into the complex industry of human trafficking, in which young women are treated like inventory that is ordered, replaced, maintained, and accounted for at all times.

Though no one person has a clear picture of the entire operation, there are multiple players involved in trafficking the underage girls. A respected law enforcement officer, Bob Gault (Beau Bridges), oversees the business from a distance, while temperamental point-man Vaughan (Matt O’Leary) is in charge of the day-to-day operations. Over time, Eden learns to navigate the system and wins Vaughan’s trust in order to improve her situation.

Based on the stunning real-life experiences of Chong Kim, EDEN is a powerful narrative that reveals one woman’s unyielding strength and the resilience of the human spirit. Director Megan Griffiths (First Aid for Choking, The Off Hours) presents a harrowing glimpse of the human trafficking that happens within our own borders. In a breakthrough performance, Jamie Chung is able to maneuver strenuous situations while preserving the character’s dignity. EDEN pushes the limits of how much a person will endure in order to survive, and compels the audience to evaluate moral dilemmas that aren’t so cut and dry. –Malou Amparo

Co-presented by: AF3IRM, Break The Silence, CSUSM Gender Equity Center, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) – San Diego chapter, Women’s International Center