On April 28th, director Kogonada’s 2022 film After Yang had a press conference at the 23rd Jeonju International Film Festival.
During the event, Justin H. Min shared, “I read the script on an airplane. As I was reading, I started to cry because I got very emotional. The woman next to me went like, ‘Are you OK?’ and I replied to her saying that I am crying because I was reading such a beautiful story.”
Set in the near future, After Yang follows a family who grapples with the loss of their humanlike android Yang as it suddenly shuts off one day. The film is based on the short story Saying Goodbye to Yang by Alexander Weinstein, and it is the second feature film from Kogonada who directed Apple TV+ original series Pachinko.
Hollywood star Colin Farrell and Korean-American actor Justin H. Min play Jake and Yang in the film.
The actor also talked about the moment that he could personally resonate with his character. “There is the scene with Yang and Jake that really explains how I feel every day in the United States,” Min said. “I know that I look like a Korean and that I know a lot about Korea because my parents are Korean. I speak a little bit of Korean. I eat Korean food. But sometimes I don’t feel like I belong there, because I don’t have real memories of growing up in Korea,” he added.
Following last July’s world premiere at the 74th Cannes Film Festival, the film won the Alfred P. Sloan Prize at the 37th Sundance Film Festival this January.
