Interview with “Night Bloomers” Creator/Writer/Director/Producer, Andrew Undi Lee

Full transcript of Interview with “Night Bloomers” Creator/Writer/Director/Producer, Andrew Undi Lee.

0:04KT: Andrew Undi Lee is a queer Australian born Korean director, writer, producer, and production designer with a portfolio that speaks for itself and weaves storytelling that speaks to the ancestors and experiences of so many others. Night Bloomers is a horror anthology series exploring multigenerational stories from the unspoken immigration experiences of the Korean Australian diaspora. Night Bloomers premieres Saturday, the 28th of October on SBS Viceland and SBS On Demand. Undi, thank you so much and welcome to the For Your Reference podcast.

0:39Undi: Oh, thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be here to chat with you. And yeah, this is great. Thank you.

0:44KT: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We're going to chop it up real good. It's going to be great. Um, well, congratulations on the career you've had so far. There's so much to talk about, but I do want to get to Night Bloomers. You know, you've been in film festivals, you've consulted for ABC shows, you've won awards, you know, all this, but you know, I got to say it for the people. A feature screenplay with Coke Curious and the Powerhouse Museum, Parramatta ends. We will be in the future, but you're about to go to South by Southwest Sydney for the new visions of future of diaspora storytelling.

1:18Undi: Thanks, wow, that's a, that's a, make me sound so good. Um, thank you so much. Yeah, that's a, there's a lot happening. Um, and yeah, just being busy, I guess.

1:30KT: Well, hopefully, hopefully we can get some nourishment, um, from Night Bloomers before we get there, but, you know, in the future, you did amazing, you inspired, you moved people to tears, and I'm sure they had a great time on the panel as well. But let's get into Night Bloomers, created, wrote, produced, and directed. Um, I guess it's cool to hear, first of all, that we're hearing very specific, because this was shot in Western Sydney, right? Correct, correct. Yes. So I was born and raised on Dharug land in Blacktown, so, um, it was really, right? Love it. Love it.

2:01KT: Um, so it's so cool to not only hear different stories that are different from even 10 years ago on Australian screens and internationally, but to succinctly have it in Western Sydney and to succinctly have it about, you know, Korean Australian sort of diaspora. Um, big question, but what was it like being able to do that?

2:24Undi: Oh, I mean. I mean I'll start with the Parramatta, western suburbs. I think it was great to be able to set it here because a lot of the actors were out here but also like you know everything's shot in the eastern suburbs of Sydney and I've always had to travel like an hour and a half in traffic and it was just so nice to be able to rock up in my own neighborhood and shoot the series that I was like I'm gonna set it. in my neighborhood. Go around the corner shop, get some snacks. Around the corner, Parramatta, like it's, this is where it's at. This is where the future's at. Parramatta is in the western suburbs. That's where the interesting stories are at.

2:58Undi: Um, for my community, for the Korean Australian community, I think it was extremely meaningful and potent for me because I, I think I've been working, you know, I've started my career since I was, when, when I was 18 and the only projects I got to work on that were Korean were the ones that I wrote, um, or had to consult on. And so when Parasite won, everyone started putting Korean characters in their series or in their storyline. So for around five, you know. for five years. I was helping other people tell our stories. Um, so to now have the chance to write something for myself and for my community from the voices of Korean Australian writers, uh, yeah, incredibly meaningful and empowering.

3:44Undi: For us to have a voice and for us to have an authenticity in our storytelling. So yeah, it is a big moment and it is the first Korean Australian series created, actually created by Koreans. So, um, yeah, it's a big moment for me, um, and the, uh, and the fellow writers and actors. Yeah.

4:01KT: Yeah. And it's, um, you know, and even mentioning Parasite, there's that whole movement of embracing that one inch, you know, the subtitling, which is also in, um, Night Bloomers as well. And I think. You know, in the 2020s, I think a lot of us globally in audiences have the appetite of wanting the realness, you know, authenticity is another word, but like, they want the realness, you know, and even if it means subtitles, that's okay as well.

4:29Undi: Totally, totally. And everyone's learning Korean now these days anyway.

4:33KT: Don't worry about me and my K-dramas. It's okay. Um, you, you talk about, uh, you know, a legacy, and I guess even from the point of view of like specifically Korean Australian immigrant stories aren't necessarily highlighted as much as well. And, you know, having an oral history, and this is in some way being able to capture that and being able to distill that. And, um, you know, you also shared in an interview that was, So, so, so real about, you know, our loved ones, you know, whether it's our parents or our relatives, that they're not always going to be with us. And this is also a way to capture that.

5:12Undi: Yeah, definitely. Like, you know, we're, we're a young diaspora in this country. We've only have, I think like three, almost very into four generations here, like, and then they came here in the seventies, um, and then they're quite old. Um, so they, they are rich with stories and survive, like both in surviving and. Thriving in, you know, post White Australia policy era, um, and they've built a future for us. So, you know, part of me writing this is also just to kind of honor or just exploring Korean Australian diaspora narratives is to honor and retain this history

5:47Undi: that they've built and, you know, be included in this country that the history of this country does involve a small minority of Koreans that, um, have settled here and built a life here. So. That's incredibly important for me to retain and, and highlight, uh, for future generations.

6:07KT: Absolutely. And I, I also want to honor, because you talk about bringing on, you know, the cast and crew and, you know, how important it is. What was it like, I guess, you know, being in the industry, um, and having the experiences that you had, shout outs to working on The Sapphires, by the way. But like, what was, what was it like having a wholly Korean set in Australia, being able to tell these stories, what was it like being able to distill that?

6:35Undi: Yeah, so, I mean, this was an incredibly difficult series to make, because it's, you know, low budget horror, we had COVID, we shot this during the... This third wave of COVID, um, you know, I caught COVID in pre production. So I was in, I was, it was, it was so hard. I mean, then we had floods, but the cast were like the thing that pulled me through and they are the heart and soul of this series. Um, you know, they were so generous. They were so giving and both in, in and off the project, cause, you know, outside of the project, we were sharing our, our histories and our, you know, just narratives of.

7:13Undi: Navigating our lives and identities in Australia, so it was a very rich experience to be able to work with such a large number of Korean Australians, um, and meaningful in the way that, you know, they, this is just the tip of the iceberg of what Koreans in this country want to be saying, you know, my fellow writers, Ra Chapman's got her own show with ABC, Suzanne is like working on that project, she's got a, you know, There is a thirst and drive to be telling our stories and, you know, working with these actors, we're excited to be a part of this narrative in the strange landscape of storytelling.

7:52KT: Yeah. And it's, it's very much at the intersection of, yes, it's a, like, it's great to have that presence, but it's also just part of my language. Fucking great. Like it's such a great anthology series and it's so immersive. Um, I guess in the writers room or even for you specifically, did you have a favorite sort of like folklore? Did you guys need to research? Because some of you had different variations depending on the aunties and uncles. Uh,

8:20Undi: yeah, yeah. So, uh, I mean, I guess, okay, so two parts to that. Uh, I think the, the knowledge of our folklore was varied and like, you know, different renditions of it, which, which was great because, uh, we all learned it in a different way. All the writers learned it in a different way and there is no right or wrong kind of ownership of our culture and our folklore stories. Like, you know, I think. There are different perspectives and even me creating this show like I have one perspective and so like for my favorite story is the goblin narrative uh and when I was developing that show and presented to the SBS

8:59Undi: they were kind of like used to seeing a goblin in that kind of sense like this playful childlike goblin that wasn't in you know I won't give it away but like Their, their perspective of what a goblin was, was very much through a Western lens. So that's, that for me is exciting to be come up with those frictions, um, both with Western audiences within, within my community. So I'm very interested in how, um, Koreans will respond to those folklore stories because. You know, they're so ancient, but also people will have different interpretations of it and experiences of it.

9:34Undi: So, yeah, I'm excited to share that with audiences, um, both Australian and Korean.

9:41KT: Yeah, and I think it's probably like whose auntie tells the story the best is what the goblin is going to look like, perhaps.

9:49Undi: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I always tell this anecdote that when I was growing up, I had, uh, you know, when I was crying, my aunties would say, you know, a monster or goblin will come and eat my genitals off if you don't stop crying. So like these folk, these stories did come from my family. They were like, like scattered throughout growing up. And, you know, when, like, for instance, when. They eat the seafood pancake. Uh, we would often eat that when it was raining and a way to calm us down when there was like lightning and thunderstorms and then to use, then to use like monsters to teach us lessons.

10:31Undi: So, uh, yeah, this is very much in the series and it's, it's, it's. Why I love the episode with the goblin and just the series in the whole, um, yeah,

10:42KT: it's, it's so interesting talking about like, cause I'm Tongan. So even, you know, there, there's like usual sort of customs, or even when you go to the cemetery, you need to make sure you leave a particular sort of way. Otherwise the spirits will like follow you, which is a great way to teach a kid not to act up.

10:59Undi: Yes, exactly. Exactly. Oh, that's great.

11:02KT: By your grandma. I'm speaking about the anthology. I think, you know, when we talk about like race and culture, sometimes. So maybe you'll get one character, maybe one episode about queer experiences. We get quite a few, um, in Night Bloomers as well. Not to say that I wasn't expecting it, but I'm like, Oh, this is great. I'm here. I'm here for this. Was that something that was conscious or was it just a matter of who was in the room and what was important to tell?

11:34Undi: Yeah, interesting. I think, I think just me naturally, because I'm queer and like very gay and very kind of, I want to put that at the forefront, but I didn't set out to be like, hey, I really want to make a queer lens, you know, view on Korean Australian experiences, it just kind of happened that way because I think, yeah, I mean, there's one episode that is very specific to my experiences of being queer in Korean Australia. So that's, I guess, very on the surface on that episode, but in the opening episode, yeah, there is, there is like a queer touch to it because yeah, with that episode.

12:13Undi: Uh, the writer was explaining how, you know, when you're not fully the identity that you wish to be, which is like a Korean Australian woman, and you've either over-assimilated or whitewashed yourself so much that your desire to be someone or be like someone can become sexual, which then of course becomes like same sex, you know, uh, uh, thematically. So it was, it was kind of just evolved in that sense. And my, I guess, relation to that is that, you know, I was super proud to be Korean, but you also idealize, you know, the other, what people, the standard, the standards of what is beautiful in this country, which is, you know, blight. Blonde, white and blue eyed.

12:59Undi: And so wanting to be that and wanting to have that and wanting to be intimate with that was explored with our own identities of how we see ourselves experience. So, yeah, convoluted answer, but there is a queer lens on it, but through the eyes of, um, deeper thematics of what we're exploring about identity within this country.

13:21KT: I think that's a great thing. I think. The love that I guess from Tongans or even from Koreans that we get it's layered and it's wrapped in love, but it's also wrapped in obligation and expectation and I love that you didn't hide away from that. And it's like, we're not going to wait three seasons in before we start talking about queer experiences, because that is the experience.

13:42Undi: Exactly, exactly.

13:43KT: I had so much more to talk about we were going to fight about diversity and representation, but we're running out of time. But thank you so much. Real time. Um, we're going to wrap up, um, with our final question. We finished our reviews with a recommendation. So what would you pair with Night Bloomers as a double feature?

14:01Undi: Um, I would, as a double feature, I would put Thirst, which is by, uh, Park Chan-wook. He, it's a, it's a vampire film about a priest who

14:11KT: Is this a Song Kang-ho? The horny priest? Yeah. Oh, not

14:13Undi: the horny priest. Oh, no, not the horny priest. He's a priest who's a vampire who is trying to, uh, like, uh, basically

14:23Undi: who's trying to save people, but is also hungry to eat them as well. Okay, maybe, maybe I was just projecting this. Okay. I might give you another one, which would be, uh, Two Sisters, the classic Korean horror. Great. Gorgeous. And thank you so much for your time and all the best. Thank you so much. Um, thank you so much for having me.