Seoul Searching is a movie set in 1986 following a group of Korean-born teenage foreigners from different countries as they attend a Korean summer camp in Seoul in order to connect with their roots and culture. The Center for Asian Business and the Asian Pacific Student Services hosted a special screening of the movie on September 21, 2016 followed by a Q&A session with the writer, producer, director of the movie, Benson Lee.
During the Q&A session, Lee discussed in-depth the development of Seoul Searching that was years, even a decade, in the making. He reminisced on his auditioning process where he selected many of his iconic main characters through the process of YouTube auditions, as well as his year-long grueling process of obtaining the rights to 80s hits such as The Clash’s “Should I Stay or Should I Go.” Based on his own personal experiences, he recounted the crazy and wild days of his own time in Korean Summer Camp that he predicts might have led to its official closing in the late 1980s.
Film is a life’s passion for Lee; his knowledge of films and his list of inspirational directors and movies are endless. He wants to not only produce great films but also create diverse movies for a global audience that does not focus on just a character’s race or ethnicity. He noted during the Q&A session that Seoul Searching is a fun, lighthearted movie that any person can relate to, not just people of Korean descent.