20th Anniversary New York Asian Film Festival

Jul 15-31, 2022

Photo: ⓒ2021 EXPOSED FILM, All Rights Reserved

International Premiere

I Am More

모어

More, the impossibly glamorous headliner at Club Trans for the past two decades, is one of Itaewon’s most popular drag queens. A transgender trailblazer, More had always dreamed of being a ballerina, and endured years of torturous training (with the support of loving parents and a devoted boyfriend) to audition for one of Seoul’s famed ballet conservatories. Turned away by the conservative old guard, More continues to train rigorously. One day, John Cameron Mitchell, in Seoul for a run of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” catches More’s show. The ballerina is soon invited to perform in New York on the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, a career turning point. Veteran documentarian Lee Il-ha (Counters, NYAFF 2018 selection) illuminates More’s captivating journey with warmth, empathy and artistry.

Director: Lee Il-ha
Cast: More
Languages: Korean with English subtitles
2021; 81 min.; DCP

SCHEDULE:

Sunday July 24, 7:00pm
Film at Lincoln Center

Director Lee Il-ha and Actor More will attend the screening.

More

More majored in ballet at the Korea National University of Arts, School of Dance, and has performed in a variety of shows in Beijing, New York and Edinburgh, as well as in commercials. More is also the headliner at Seoul’s Trans club, performing as a drag queen.

Lee Il-ha
이일하

Lee Il-ha was born in Korea and has lived in Japan since 2000, working with Japanese and Korean broadcasters such as NHK and MBC. His first feature documentary as director, Crying Boxers, was the opening film of the 2014 DMZ International Documentary Festival. Counters was screened at NYAFF 2017. I Am More is his third feature, and premiered at the Busan International Film Festival in 2021.