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Andrew Ahn

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Andrew Ahn
Ahn in 2016
Born (1986-03-10) March 10, 1986 (age 38)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Education
Occupations
  • Film director
  • screenwriter
Years active2011–present
Websiteandrewahnfilms.com Edit this at Wikidata

Andrew Ahn (born March 10, 1986)[1][2] is an American film director and screenwriter who has directed the feature films Spa Night (2016), Driveways (2019), and Fire Island (2022).

Early life

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Andrew Ahn was born and raised in Los Angeles. He is the son of Korean immigrants.[3] He graduated from Brown University with a degree in English and received a Masters in Fine Arts (MFA) in Film Directing from the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts).[4]

Career

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In 2011, Ahn wrote, directed, edited and produced a short film entitled Andy, which won the Best Narrative Short award at the 2011 San Diego Asian Film Festival.[5] The film has also screened at film festivals including the Boston Asian American Film Festival, the Slamdance Film Festival, the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, Outfest, the Hong Kong Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, the DisOrient Asian American Film Festival of Oregon and the Vancouver Asian Film Festival.[6]

In 2012, Ahn wrote, directed, edited and produced a short film entitled Dol (First Birthday), which premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.[3] It won awards including the Grand Jury Award Outstanding Narrative Short Film at Outfest: Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival 2012, and a Jury Award for Best Narrative Short Film at the Polari: Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival 2012. Ahn has stated that he made the film to come out to his parents as gay.[7]

Ahn has also served as an editor on the documentary I Am Divine (2013) (directed by Jeffrey Schwarz) and was a post-production assistant on the documentaries Vito (2011) and Tab Hunter Confidential (2015), both of which were also directed by Jeffrey Schwarz.

Ahn raised funds via Kickstarter for his feature film, entitled Spa Night, about a closeted gay Korean-American teenager who follows his desires and finds more than he bargains for at the Korean spa in the Koreatown of Los Angeles.[8] He developed the screenplay for the film at the 2013 Sundance Screenwriters Lab, which it was selected for, and participated in the Film Independent Screenwriting Lab and the Film Independent Directing Lab with the feature screenplay for the project. For developing the film, he also received a Sundance Institute Cinereach Feature Film Fellow grant.[8]

Advocacy

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Ahn signed an October 2023 open letter of artists for ceasefire during the Israeli bombardment of Gaza.[9]

Filmography

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Short film

Year Title Director Writer Producer
2010 Andy Yes Yes Yes
2011 Dol (First Birthday) Yes Yes Yes

Feature film

Year Title Director Writer
2016 Spa Night Yes Yes
2019 Driveways Yes No
2022 Fire Island Yes No
2025 The Wedding Banquet Yes
A Sprinkle of History Yes No

Accolades

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Organizations Year[a] Category Work Result Ref.
AGLIFF Awards 2012 Jury Award for Best Narrative Short Dol (First Birthday) Won [10]
Berlin International Film Festival 2019 Teddy Award for Best Feature Film Driveways Nominated [11]
Crystal Bear for The Best Film (Kplus) Nominated [12]
Boston LGBT Film Festival 2016 Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature Spa Night Won [13]
Gimli Film Festival 2020 Best of Fest Audience Choice Award Driveways Won [14]
Independent Spirit Awards 2017 John Cassavetes Award Spa Night Won [15]
Someone to Watch Award Nominated
Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival 2016 Best First Feature Won [16]
Nashville Film Festival 2016 New Directors Competition Nominated [17]
Outfest Los Angeles Film Festival 2012 Jury Award Outstanding Narrative Short Film Dol (First Birthday) Won [18]
Philadelphia Film Festival 2016 Best First Feature Spa Night Nominated [19]
Remi Awards 2020 Features - Dramatic / Original Driveways Won [20]
San Diego Asian Film Festival 2011 Best Narrative Short Andy Won [5]
2016 George C. Lin Emerging Filmmaker Award Spa Night Won [5]
2019 Best Narrative Feature Driveways Won [21]
Seattle International Film Festival 2019 New American Cinema Competition Nominated [22]
Sundance Film Festival 2012 Grand Jury Prize Short Films Dol (First Birthday) Nominated [23]
2016 Grand Jury Prize Dramatic Spa Night Nominated [24]

Notes

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  1. ^ Indicates the year of ceremony. Each year is linked to the article about the awards held that year, wherever possible.

References

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  1. ^ Ho, Jean (October 6, 2015). "Spa Hookups, Korean Parents, And Coming Out On Screen: Q&A; With Filmmaker Andrew Ahn". NPR. Archived from the original on September 25, 2023. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
  2. ^ "Andrew Ahn". Amazon. Archived from the original on September 25, 2023. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
  3. ^ a b Rabe, John (January 21, 2012). "Sundance-bound Andrew Ahn comes out to Korean-American parents in his film, 'Dol'". KPCC. Archived from the original on September 25, 2023. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
  4. ^ "CWDW Interviews…Andrew Ahn". delightfulwrites.com. November 8, 2012. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
  5. ^ a b c "Festival Awards". Pac Arts. Archived from the original on September 25, 2023. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
  6. ^ "ANDY". andrewahnfilms.com. Archived from the original on December 10, 2021. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  7. ^ Ahn, Andrew (January 6, 2012). "The Sundance Diaries: I Made This Film To Come Out To My Parents". HuffPost. Archived from the original on September 25, 2023. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
  8. ^ a b "Spa Night - A Korean-American Film about Coming Out". Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  9. ^ "Artists4Ceasefire". Artists4Ceasefire. Retrieved December 17, 2023.
  10. ^ "2012 aGLIFF – Polari Film Festival Announces Jury & Audience Awards!". Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival. Archived from the original on March 29, 2013. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
  11. ^ "Feature Film". blog.teddyaward.tv. January 29, 2019. Archived from the original on April 20, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
    "The Teddy Winners 2019". blog.teddyaward.tv. February 18, 2019. Archived from the original on April 20, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  12. ^ Roxborough, Scott (January 11, 2019). "Berlin Film Festival Completes Generation Lineup". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on April 20, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
    "Awards". berlinale.de. Archived from the original on April 20, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  13. ^ "Spa Night". Taiwan International Queer Film Festival. Archived from the original on September 25, 2023. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
    Nadeau, James (April 17, 2016). "2016 Jury Award Winners!". Boston LGBT Film Festival. Archived from the original on May 20, 2016. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  14. ^ "And the Award Winners Are…| GFF 2020 Award Winners". gimlifilm.com. July 26, 2020. Archived from the original on April 20, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  15. ^ Earl, William (February 25, 2017). "2017 Independent Spirit Awards: Full Winners List". IndieWire. Archived from the original on September 25, 2023. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
    Gavieres, Jayna (February 25, 2017). "2017 Film Independent Spirit Awards Winners Announced!". Film Independent. Archived from the original on September 25, 2023. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
  16. ^ "Spa Night". Toronto International Film Festival. Archived from the original on April 26, 2023. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
    "Festival Awards". Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival. Archived from the original on April 3, 2019. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  17. ^ Robert, Mackenzie. "Nashville Film Festival Announces Features in Competition". Nashville Film Festival. Archived from the original on August 2, 2016. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
    "2016 Feature Award Winners". Nashville Film Festival. April 22, 2016. Archived from the original on June 24, 2016. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  18. ^ "Outfest 2012 Awards". Outfest. Archived from the original on March 13, 2016. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
  19. ^ Cummings, Sinead (October 5, 2016). "Check out the full lineup for the 25th Philadelphia Film Festival". Philly Voice. Archived from the original on September 25, 2023. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
    "PFF25 Program Guide" (PDF). Philadelphia Film Festival. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 25, 2023. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
  20. ^ "PDF of 2020 Remi Winners" (PDF). worldfest.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 8, 2020. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  21. ^ "Announcing the 2019 SDAFF Award Winners". 2019 San Diego Asian Film Festival. Archived from the original on September 25, 2023. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
  22. ^ "SIFF Announces Lineup for 45th annual Seattle International Film Festival". Seattle International Film Festival. May 1, 2019. Archived from the original on April 20, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
    "SIFF 2019 Award Winners". Seattle International Film Festival. June 9, 2019. Archived from the original on April 20, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  23. ^ "2012 Sundance Film Festival Announces Short Film Program". Sundance Institute. Archived from the original on September 13, 2014. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
    "2012 Sundance Film Festival Announces Awards". sundance.org. January 28, 2012. Archived from the original on April 28, 2012. Retrieved January 29, 2012.
  24. ^ "Sundance Institute Announces Films In Competition and NEXT for 2016 Sundance Film Festival". Sundance Film Festival. December 2, 2015. Archived from the original on September 25, 2023. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
    Chang, Justin (January 31, 2016). "Sundance: The Birth of a Nation Sweeps Top Prizes". Variety. Archived from the original on September 25, 2023. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
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