Experimental Filmmaker Lynne Sachs to Visit Korea for First Time, Showing 21 Films in 16 Years

Four decades of poetic cinema that dissolves the boundaries between memory and history

A special retrospective, Films About Lynne Sachs Who, surveying the artistic trajectory of Lynne Sachs (65), a leading figure in American independent and experimental cinema, will run for three days, Nov. 14–16, at Indie Space and Sorigurim in Seoul.

Born in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1961, Lynne Sachs has forged a distinctive visual poetics since the 1980s, moving across experimental film, documentary, poetry, letters, archives and live performance. Her persistent explorations of personal memory and grand history, women’s bodies and community solidarity have established her as a singular figure in the history of contemporary avant-garde cinema. This year, she reaffirmed her artistic achievements by receiving the prestigious Maya Deren Award, presented by the New York-based nonprofit independent film collective Film-Makers’ Cooperative to a master who has contributed to the development of independent and experimental film.

The program marks the first official lineup at a Korean theater in 16 years, following her introduction at the Seoul International NewMedia Festival (now the Seoul International CineMedia Festival) in 2010. It will also be the director’s first-ever visit to Korea. The program features 21 films, from early shorts that closely observe women’s lives and sense of place to documentaries recording social trauma and essay films exploring the organic collision of text and sound.

During her visit, Lynne Sachs will take part in a range of academic and artistic programs, meeting audiences in person. On Nov. 14, opening day, she will lead a master class on her creative methodology, titled “Choking, Chewing, Enjoying, and Spitting: Making Films in Disarray.” On Nov. 15, she will join post-screening discussions with audiences, offering in-depth commentary on selected works.

On the final day, Nov. 16, Sachs will take part in a special conversation revisiting the artistic world of the late Theresa Hak Kyung Cha (1951–1982), a Korean American diaspora artist and pioneering writer. The program will also feature a live performance accompanying Sachs’ short film Now, a Girl Facing Fear (2020), a work that resonates with Cha’s legacy, creating a stage that crosses the boundaries between visual art and cinema.