News

After winning the audience award at the 2012 South by Southwest festival, Eden gets its UK release this week. Directed and co-written by Megan Griffiths, the film offers a harrowing examination of sex trafficking. However, despite the vile subject matter and some excellent performances, there is a lingering sense that this feature doesn’t quite hit as hard as it should.

Based on the real life story of Chong Kim, Eden follows the fortunes of 18 year old Korean-American Hyun-Jae (Jamie Chung), who sneaks into a bar in search of fun after another hard day’s work at her immigrant parents’ gift shop. Taking up an offer for a ride home, she is instead abducted and forced into a life of sex slavery. Renamed ‘Eden’, she soon realises that her best chances of escape lie in befriending her captors.

In Eden, Griffiths succeeds in depicting the despicable nature of the sex trafficking industry,...

The first trailer for Eden gave a gritty snapshot of a New Mexico underworld in which humans represent capital and smugglers don't come with a loveable West country burr and a unquenchable grog habit. Its new UK trailer, exclusively unleashed via the Empire social realism channel, offers a further delve into dark side of the Us badlands. Be warned: this is not for the faint of heart or people planning to visit New Mexico for their holidays. brightcove.createExperiences();Set in 1994, it's based on the story a Korean-American teenager named Chong Kim, here renamed Eden and played by Jamie Chung. Abducted and abused by a sex-trafficking ring, she's forced into prostitution. Throughout the two years she is held, Eden reluctantly ensures her own survival by carving out power and influence within the very organization that has imprisoned her.In the spirit of Michael Winterbottom’s In This World, the second...

Los Angeles, CA (August 29, 2012) – Berry Meyerowitz, President & CEO of Phase 4 Films, announced today that the company has acquired all North American rights to director Megan Griffiths’ drama Eden. Griffiths and Richard B. Phillips Jr. wrote the screenplay for the project based on a true story by Chong Kim and Phillips. Jamie Chung (Premium Rush with Joseph Gordon Levitt, upcoming Man With The Iron Fists with Russell Crowe), Beau Bridges (The Descendants) and Matt O’Leary (upcoming The Lone Ranger with Johnny Depp) star in the film, which was produced by Colin Harper Plank and Jacob Mosler through Plank’s Centripetal Films. Eden made its world premiere at the 2012 SXSW Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature and the Emergent Narrative Woman Director Award for director Griffiths. The film also played at the 2012 Seattle International Film Festival, where Chung won the Golden Space Needle Award for Best Actress.

Phase 4 Films has acquired all North American rights to director Megan Griffiths’ drama “Eden,” which had its world premiere at the 2012 SXSW Film Festival. The specialty distributor has scheduled a release in theaters for early 2013. Based on the true story of Chong Kim, “Eden” follows a Korean-American teenager who is abducted from a New Mexico bar in 1994 and turned into a sex slave in Las Vegas for two years before finally escaping. Jamie Chung, Beau Bridges and Matt O'Leary star. The film, which was written by Griffiths (“The Off Hours”) and Richard B. Phillips Jr., won the audience award for best narrative feature at SXSW as well as the Emergent Narrative Woman Director Award for Griffiths. Read More: 'Eden,' 'The Invader' and 'Five Star Existence' Take the Top Prizes at the Seattle International Film Festival Colin Harper Plank and Jacob Mosler produced the project through Plank’s.

Often the problem when making an "issue" movie, wherein you tackle some far-reaching social, systemic, or religious injustice, is that scope often becomes too burdensome, with the given topic often begging for thoughtful, intimate conversation and not the broad strokes that cinema offers. The best issue movies, things like Steven Soderbergh's multi-layered "Traffic," make the central concern seem both universal and incredibly personal, often setting aside crass moralization (the stuff "Crash" was mired in – hey, racism still exists, everybody!) for actual entertainment. "Eden," the Narrative Feature winner at SXSW, similarly tackles the issue of sex slavery, but it does so in a way that never feels too clumsy or overarching. Instead, it's a character study with thriller elements; it exposes you to a horrible underworld without ever beating you over the head with it.

The movie starts with us meeting Hyun Jae (former MTV personality Jamie Chung), a Korean-American...

Debbie Lum Image from “Seeking Asian Female.”

Five years ago, Debbie Lum set out to investigate a phenomenon that she says has “haunted” her — and some other Asian women — her entire life.

“I’m talking about yellow fever!” she says. “If you’re Asian, you know exactly what I mean. It’s Asian American Issues 101.”

If you’re not Asian, what Lum is referring to is the targeted attraction that some non-Asian men have toward Asian women — an obsession, in some cases,...

Another year, another South by Southwest. The Indiewire team will once again be attending the SXSW Film Conference and Festival in Austin, Texas. To help you keep track of the latest news, we've made up a handy guide to all of this year's feature films with links to their film pages and relevant interviews. Narrative Feature Competition "Booster" (Filmmaker Interview) Director & Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted. Cast: Nico Stone, Adam DuPaul, Seymour Cassel, Kristin Dougherty, Brian McGrail (World Premiere) "Eden" Director: Megan Griffiths | Screenwriters: Richard B. Phillips & Megan Griffiths | Story by: Richard B. Phillips & Chong Kim A young Korean-American girl, abducted and forced into prostitution by domestic human traffickers, joins forces with her captors in a...

Sound On Sight will once again be covering the SXSW Film Festival this year, making it our second time attending. 130 feature films will screen at the Austin, Texas fest taking place March 9-17, including 65 World Premieres, 17 North American Premieres and 10 U.S. Premieres. As previously announced, Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon’s The Cabin in the Woods will have the honours of opening the festival, and now they have released the full list of films – and it’s looking pretty amazing. Enjoy!

Narrative Feature Competition

This year’s 8 films were selected from 1,112 submissions. Each film is a World Premiere. Films screening in Narrative Feature Competition are:

Booster

Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin

When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted.

Cast: Nico Stone, Adam DuPaul, Seymour Cassel, Kristin Dougherty, Brian McGrail (World Premiere)

Eden

Director: Megan Griffiths,...

Iggy Pop and Debbie Harry, shot by Bob Gruen in 1977

Rock 'N' Roll Exposed: The Photography of Bob Gruen

screens as part of 24 Beats per Second

SXSW Film has just announced its features lineup for the 2012 edition, running March 9 through 17. We already knew that the Opening Night Film would be Drew Goddard's The Cabin in the Woods. For its Closing Night Film, the festival will host the world premiere of of Emmett Malloy’s documentary Big Easy Express (more below). The lineup, with descriptions from the festival:

Narrative Feature Competition

Booster

Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin. When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted. Cast: Nico Stone, Adam DuPaul, Seymour Cassel, Kristin Dougherty, Brian McGrail. (World Premiere)

Eden

Director: Megan Griffiths, Screenwriters: Richard B. Phillips, Megan Griffiths, Story by: Richard B. Phillips & Chong Kim.

With Sundance 2012 Film Festival over, the next big one on the horizon is South by Southwest, which we’ll be heavily covering. The biggest chunk of the line-up has been announced today, which has some great premieres including 21 Jump Street, Tiff and Sundance hit The Raid, Will Ferrell‘s Casa de mi Padre, the documentary Girl Model (which we liked at Tiff), as well as the next from Broken Lizard, The Babymakers. There are many other promising titles included and you can see them all below. Check back for our coverage for the fest, kicking off March 9th.

Narrative Feature Competition

This year’s 8 films were selected from 1,112 submissions. Each film is a World Premiere. Films screening in Narrative Feature Competition are:

Booster

Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin

When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted.

SXSW 2012 is just over five weeks away, and I haven’t bought my plane ticket yet. But I will, especially now that I’ve seen today’s official announcement of the features (narrative and documentary) playing at this year’s fest. Fsr will be on the ground in Austin in the form of Kate Erbland, Jack Giroux, Neil Miller, and myself, and we look forward to seeing as many of the films below as our eyeballs can stomach. I know what you’re thinking, but gastronomical biology really does work differently within the confines of Austin. We’ll offer up some films we’re looking forward to closer to the fest, but it should come as no surprise that some of my most anticipated include The Raid, The Cabin In the Woods, The Hunter, Thale, and the documentary Seeking Asian Female. (Don’t judge.) Check out the complete (as of now) listing below of the feature films...

Attendees of South by Southwest 2012 are in for a treat. 130 feature films will screen at the Austin, Texas festival taking place March 9-17. Among them are 65 World Premieres, 17 North American Premieres and 10 U.S. Premieres. The organization already announced [1] Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon's The Cabin in the Woods would open the festival (the movie is phenomenal [2]) and today the majority of the remaining line up has been revealed. One of the highlights is the unbelievably smart and hilarious 21 Jump Street, directed by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller. Both of those are World Premieres. Other highlights include The Hunter, Killer Joe, The Babymakers, frankie goes boom, God Bless America, The Imposter, The Raid, Bernie and Casa de mi Padre just to name a few. After the jump, read descriptions of all the films that have been announced so far. Before I copy and paste the rest of the list, a few minor notes.

Jamie Chung ("The Hangover Part II") has signed and Scoot McNairy ("Monsters") is in negotiations to join the gritty indie thriller "Eden" says The Hollywood Reporter.

Megan Griffiths ("The Off Hours") directs the story of a young Korean-American girl who is abducted and forced into prostitution by domestic human traffickers.

Throughout the two years she is held, she ensures her own survival by carving out power and influence within the very organization that has imprisoned her.

Richard B. Phillips and Megan Griffiths penned the script based on a story by Phillips and Chong Kim. Shooting kicks off in August in Seattle.

Jaime Chung boosted her profile recently in studio releases including the Zack Snyder fantasy Sucker Punch and the smash comedy The Hangover Part II where she played the new fiancée to the character played by Ed Helms. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Chung signed on to play the female lead in director Megan Griffiths’ indie drama Eden. Chung joined co-star Scoot McNairy (Coogan’s Bluff) on Eden; playing a Korean-America girl kidnapped by human traffickers and forced into slavery. Richard B. Phillips and Griffiths wrote the script from a story by Phillips and Chong Kim. Griffiths announced an August production start in Seattle and eastern Washington State.

Jaime Chung boosted her profile recently in studio releases including the Zack Snyder fantasy Sucker Punch and the smash comedy The Hangover Part II where she played the new fiancée to the character played by Ed Helms. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Chung signed on to play the female lead in director Megan Griffiths’ indie drama Eden. Chung joined co-star Scoot McNairy (Coogan’s Bluff) on Eden; playing a Korean-America girl kidnapped by human traffickers and forced into slavery. Richard B. Phillips and Griffiths wrote the script from a story by Phillips and Chong Kim. Griffiths announced an August production start in Seattle and eastern Washington State.

Jaime Chung boosted her profile recently in studio releases including the Zack Snyder fantasy Sucker Punch and the smash comedy The Hangover Part II where she played the new fiancée to the character played by Ed Helms. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Chung signed on to play the female lead in director Megan Griffiths’ indie drama Eden. Chung joined co-star Scoot McNairy (Coogan’s Bluff) on Eden; playing a Korean-America girl kidnapped by human traffickers and forced into slavery. Richard B. Phillips and Griffiths wrote the script from a story by Phillips and Chong Kim. Griffiths announced an August production start in Seattle and eastern Washington State.

Actress Jamie Chung will star in “Eden,” an independent film being directed by Megan Griffiths (“The Off Hours,” “First Aid for Choking”). The film is based on a true story. It’s about a Korean-American girl who was abducted and forced into prostitution. She manages to survive her two year ordeal by establishing power and influence within the organization that imprisoned her. Richard B. Phillips (“Kimchi Warrior,” “The Last Eve”) and Griffiths wrote the script. It is based on the story by Phillips and Chong Kim. Chung has appeared recently this year in “Sucker Punch” and “The Hangover 2.” According to The Hollywood Reporter, actor Scoot McNairy is also in negotiations to star in the film. He recently wrapped filming “Cogan’s Trade,” which starred Brad Pitt. McNairy has appeared in several films including “In Search of a Midnight Kiss,” “Herbie Fully Loaded,” “Bobby” and “Wonderland.”Source: The Hollywood Reporter...

Jamie Chung (The Hangover Part II) and Scoot McNairy (Monsters) are in negotiations to join the gritty indie two-hander Eden, THR is reporting.

Eden, based on a spec by Richard B. Phillips and Chong Kim, centers on a young Korean-American girl who is abducted and forced into prostitution by domestic human traffickers. Throughout the two years she is held, she ensures her own survival by carving out power and influence within the very organization that has imprisoned her.

Read more on Jamie Chung and Scoot McNairy in talks for indie drama Eden...