AsiaLENS: Jeronimo/Joseph Juhn (Virtual Screening + Online Filmmaker Discussion)

About the Movie
Born in 1926 to Korean indentured servant parents in Cuba, Jeronimo Lim becomes the first Korean to enroll in university in the same school and year as Fidel Castro. Jeronimo joins the Cuban revolution and later becomes a Vice Minister in the Castro government, crossing paths with Fidel and Che Guevara. However, after being disillusioned with the unfulfilled promises of communism, and after visiting his homeland, Korea, in 1995, Jeronimo becomes a changed man and dedicates the remaining years reconnecting to his Korean roots and singlehandedly rebuilding the Korean community in Cuba. (Joseph Juhn. 2019. Cuba / South Korea / United States. 93 minutes.)

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About the Director
Joseph is an award-winning lawyer-turned-filmmaker with a passion for diasporic narrative. His first feature documentary, "JERONIMO", which is about a Korean Cuban revolutionary, drew over 20,000 audiences when it opened in theaters in Korea. Moreover, the film was selected at 17 film festivals around the world, winning several awards on the way.

Prior to working on “JERONIMO” full-time, Joseph was an in-house counsel at the Manhattan-based South Korean government agency (KOTRA) for 4 years where he advised Korean companies and entrepreneurs on US intellectual property and startup law. Here, his job revolved primarily around soft IP law, assisting companies draft business strategies around their IP assets while implementing mechanisms to avoid potential IP disputes with US counterparts.

Passionate about causes pertinent to the Korean American community, Joseph also served on the steering committee of KSE (Korean Startups & Entrepreneurs), a non-profit with an aim to empower entrepreneurs of Korean descent in the US.

*This event is co-sponsored by the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and the Spurlock Museum of World Cultures.

*This event is supported by the U.S. Department of Education Title VI National Resource Center (NRC) program.