K-docs

To be Frank

Project Description

Director	Amanda Najung KIM
Producer	OH Heejung
Production Company	Seesaw Pictures
Contact	bogyoung.kim@seesawpics.com

Logline

Celebrity psychic Frank avoids reading his own tarot cards, but at age 80, he finally sits on the other side of the table, allowing me to read him with a camera and enter his psyche through his dreams.

Synopsis

In 2012, reeling from the pain of a broken heart, I met Frank, “one of the best psychics in New York.” Frank is a celebrity psychic specializing in love, but he has avoided reading himself. As I begin to read him with my camera and my camera and I become his medium, our relationship develops.

Director's Note

As Frank turned 80, I began to think about what it would be like to lose him. The recordings and time spent in isolation with Frank started as an act of preservation and metaphysical questioning, a way to confront my growing fear of death. Frank has seen all walks of life and every shade of human fear, misfortune, and desperation, and I wondered what his unique experience and knowledge might teach us. But as I began to peel back his many layers, the film became a parallel quest between Frank and me to help each other see ourselves better.

	Amanda Najung Kim's debut feature documentary, Nam Jun Paik: Moon is the Oldest TV, premiered at the Sundance Intl. Film Festival competition and screened at Intl. Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, CPH:DOX, Hot Docs, and was the opening film at MoMA Doc Fortnight. It was aired on PBS channels in the United States and is scheduled to air on EBS in the second half of 2024 domestically.		Heejung Oh has been producing creative documentaries that have paid off in theatrical releases as well as overseas film festivals. Produced and co-produced works include Devi (2024), Nam Jun Paik: Moon is the Oldest TV (2023) and Delivery Dancer’s Sphere (2023).
Director Amanda Najung KIM		Producer OH Heejung

To be Frank

💌 Contact: bogyoung.kim@seesawpics.com

Synopsis

In 2012, reeling from the pain of a broken heart, I met Frank, “one of the best psychics in New York.” Frank is a celebrity psychic specializing in love, but he has avoided reading himself. As I begin to read him with my camera and my camera and I become his medium, our relationship develops.

Director’s Statement

As Frank turned 80, I began to think about what it would be like to lose him. The recordings and time spent in isolation with Frank started as an act of preservation and metaphysical questioning, a way to confront my growing fear of death. Frank has seen all walks of life and every shade of human fear, misfortune, and desperation, and I wondered what his unique experience and knowledge might teach us. But as I began to peel back his many layers, the film became a parallel quest between Frank and me to help each other see ourselves better.