UNTITLED KOREAN QUEER TRANS PROJECT
New York City, New York | Film Feature
Documentary, LGBTQ
By creating a portrait of a thriving, chosen family of LGBTQ nightlife performers in Korea for diaspora audiences across the globe, UNTITLED KQT PROJECT reclaims queerness as empowering, unifying, and culturally resonant – on both sides of the Pacific.
UNTITLED KOREAN QUEER TRANS PROJECT
New York City, New York | Film Feature
Documentary, LGBTQ
1 Campaigns | New York, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $15,051 for post-production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
279 supporters | followers
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By creating a portrait of a thriving, chosen family of LGBTQ nightlife performers in Korea for diaspora audiences across the globe, UNTITLED KQT PROJECT reclaims queerness as empowering, unifying, and culturally resonant – on both sides of the Pacific.
Participating In
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
I started envisioning UNTITLED KQT PROJECT in 2016 during my first solo trip to Korea, untethered from family obligations and free to find out where the queers were hanging out. Until then, I had bifurcated my experiences as a person of Korean heritage and as a queer person: I had no sense of possibility for what it might be to live fully in both of these truths.
As I built relationships with queer community in Seoul, I realized that diasporic connection was the healing superpower I had long been in search of – a way to disrupt cultural narratives of queerness as shameful, and supplant them with transnational care and connection.
On its surface, UNTITLED KQT PROJECT is an underdog story of two trans public figures in Seoul, Korea – Mini and Jungle – who build a chosen family of nightlife performers as they confront societal surveillance, family drama, and their own internalized fears.
But on a broader level, the film maps out a queer framework for community care that is relevant to all of us as we navigate multiple, ongoing global crises and anticipate the next ones — a framework that's rooted in interdependence, shared vulnerability, and love.
The film’s two main protagonists work at Trunk, the trendiest gay club in Korea. For them, the club isn’t just a source of income and Instagram selfies: It’s where their deepest desires explode into three dimensions, through high-fashion looks, choreographed routines, and unbridled joy onstage.
By the film’s end, Mini reaches self-acceptance by fully embracing her Koreanness from a place of pride, power, and agency.
Jungle expands into her womanhood. She starts a band and falls in love – and in the process, humbly comes to realize that she deserves everything – and more.
Likewise, in the U.S., political and cultural conditions for trans and queer people continue to rapidly deteriorate.
All of these realities impact immigrant and diaspora communities, where many are reluctant to embrace queerness as a vital part of their cultural lineages, and instead wave it off as a Western imposition: I’ve been told many times that my queerness is “incompatible” with being Korean.
Our team seeks to make a film that feels like the queer-affirming family home video that so many queer and trans people of color – whether in our homeland or the diaspora – ache for but don’t have access to.
UNTITLED KQT PROJECT – and our team's nearly decade-long journey to bring it to life – is a testament to queerness as connective tissue that binds us across language, culture, and generation.
We are currently deep in the edit – poring over the 300+ hours of footage we started gathering since before-Covid times. With your support, we'll be able to reach a rough cut of the film by July 2025; finish the entire film by this coming Fall; and start submitting to film festivals for a 2026 premiere.
As part of our impact distribution strategy, our crew will work with queer Asian grassroots groups across the country to host local screening events – both virtual and in-person – that center our community.
Here are 3 things you can do to help us realize our vision!
- Click the blue "FOLLOW" button at the top of our crowdfunding page – totally free! – because if we reach 350 followers, we'll be in the running for up to $10k in matching funds.
- If you can, PLEDGE a donation to our project to help us finish the edit and bring the film to queer community screenings in 2026. No amount is too small – or too big!
- SHARE our campaign page with 3 friends who you think might be interested in learning about our project. Here's a handy link: bit.ly/KQT2025
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Editing
Costs $5,000
We are in the process of reviewing and editing 300+ hours of footage to build the most compelling film we can!
Sound Mixing
Costs $2,500
The soundscape of the film brings everything together – from queer nightlife chaos to the sounds of Seoul.
Color Correction
Costs $2,500
Queer nightlife = vibrant colors and fabulous outfits. Color correction will make sure everything POPS!
Legal Stuff – Fair Use, Music Rights & more
Costs $2,000
Lawyers are expensive. Help us cross our T's and dot our I's so we can get our picture on the big screen.
Impact Distribution: Community Screenings
Costs $2,500
Support us in bringing the film to local queer and trans Asian community screenings across the country.
Festivals
Costs $500
Film festival submission fees are no joke. Help us submit our documentary to festivals around the world!
Share this update!
About This Team
Led by queer & trans people of color, the filmmaking team has cultivated deep trust & strong relationships with the film’s protagonists.
PATRICK G. LEE (they/them), director & producer
Patrick is a queer diasporic Korean filmmaker, writer, and community organizer. Patrick is interested in building collaborative models of filmmaking that equip LGBTQ people of color with media-making skills. “Unspoken” – their epistolary short film on queer Asian coming out stories – won several festival awards, including Best Documentary Short at the Austin Asian American Film Festival. Their docuseries for NBC News on queer Asian history (“Searching for Queer Asian Pacific America”) won the NAMIC Vision Award for Long Form Digital Content.
Patrick has written for Mother Jones, The Nation, ProPublica, The Atlantic, and more. Previously, Patrick worked with the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance to help build a vibrant network of queer Asian grassroots groups across the US. Their work has been supported by Queer|Art, Firelight Media, Sundance, Chicken & Egg, Center for Asian American Media, and more.
YOON RA (they/them), cinematographer
Yoon is a media artist and cultural organizer raised on Lenape Land (NY/NJ) and is currently based in Paju, South Korea. They have worked with journalism platforms such as NBC Asian America, The Atlantic, Huffington Post, and Slate. Their credits include FLY IN POWER (2023); “Searching for Queer Asian Pacific America” (2018); and THE BIT PLAYER (2018).
BEN GARCHAR (he/him), editor
Ben is an award-winning editor based in NYC who works fluidly between documentary and fiction, as he doesn’t understand any difference between the two. Born in Ohio, Ben began his career under the mentorship of Oscar winners Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar, who instilled in him the beauty of deep collaboration, the poetic language of cinema, and filmmaking’s potential to be a deeply activist art form.
In the nearly two decades since, he’s paired with audacious first-time filmmakers and seasoned veterans alike on films that have premiered at Sundance, SXSW, Tribeca, Hot Docs, Full Frame, and BAMcinemaFest. His work as an editor includes ROUGE (2024), AN ACT OF WORSHIP (2022), and FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY (2018).
LIA OUYANG RUSLI (she/they), composer
Lia is a queer and trans Asian American film composer and artist based in Brooklyn. She has written music for films premiering at TIFF, Sundance, SXSW, Curaçao IFFR, and BAMCinématek, as well as exhibitions featured in the Queens Museum and BAM Next Wave Festival. She is the recipient of the 2017-2018 Van Lier Fellowship for Music Composition; 2021 ASCAP Jimmy Van Heusen Award; and 2021 Pioneer Works Music Residency.
Lia scored FANTASMAS (HBO, 2024); PROBLEMISTA (A24, 2023); BRUISER (Hulu, 2022); TEST PATTERN (Kino Lorber, 2019); and the short film “Bambirak” (2020), which won the International Fiction Short Film Jury Award at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.
DANIEL HYO KIM (he/him), title & graphic designer
Daniel is a multidisciplinary designer and art director based in Los Angeles. His work explores how identity and meaning are shaped through material, language, and the cultural signals we learn to read and misread. As a queer Korean American, Daniel is drawn to the in-between spaces where resistance is forged.
Daniel has collaborated with the One Archives on "Days of Rage", a project that resurfaced archival graphic design from LGBTQ protest history; designed titles for "I Know Who I Am", a short film about isolation and self-discovery recently featured on Nowness; and, as part of the creative duo DNGR:DNGR, created a permanent sculpture installation in San Diego titled "Bios Morphe" using glass, neon, and steel to explore the tension between fragility and structure. Across film, public art, and design, Daniel's practice centers community and asks how we make meaning together.
MARNIE SALVANI (she/her), assistant editor
Marnie is a filmmaker based in Los Angeles. A self-proclaimed introvert who has been told “she can be funny” sometimes, she loves coming out of her hermit life to tell stories of comedy and tragedy through film. Her creative dream is to be a champion for voices, representation, safe spaces, and collaboration. She gravitates toward stories that impact and connect human beings through understanding and compassion, sometimes with a dash of [dark] humor.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
I started envisioning UNTITLED KQT PROJECT in 2016 during my first solo trip to Korea, untethered from family obligations and free to find out where the queers were hanging out. Until then, I had bifurcated my experiences as a person of Korean heritage and as a queer person: I had no sense of possibility for what it might be to live fully in both of these truths.
As I built relationships with queer community in Seoul, I realized that diasporic connection was the healing superpower I had long been in search of – a way to disrupt cultural narratives of queerness as shameful, and supplant them with transnational care and connection.
On its surface, UNTITLED KQT PROJECT is an underdog story of two trans public figures in Seoul, Korea – Mini and Jungle – who build a chosen family of nightlife performers as they confront societal surveillance, family drama, and their own internalized fears.
But on a broader level, the film maps out a queer framework for community care that is relevant to all of us as we navigate multiple, ongoing global crises and anticipate the next ones — a framework that's rooted in interdependence, shared vulnerability, and love.
The film’s two main protagonists work at Trunk, the trendiest gay club in Korea. For them, the club isn’t just a source of income and Instagram selfies: It’s where their deepest desires explode into three dimensions, through high-fashion looks, choreographed routines, and unbridled joy onstage.
By the film’s end, Mini reaches self-acceptance by fully embracing her Koreanness from a place of pride, power, and agency.
Jungle expands into her womanhood. She starts a band and falls in love – and in the process, humbly comes to realize that she deserves everything – and more.
Likewise, in the U.S., political and cultural conditions for trans and queer people continue to rapidly deteriorate.
All of these realities impact immigrant and diaspora communities, where many are reluctant to embrace queerness as a vital part of their cultural lineages, and instead wave it off as a Western imposition: I’ve been told many times that my queerness is “incompatible” with being Korean.
Our team seeks to make a film that feels like the queer-affirming family home video that so many queer and trans people of color – whether in our homeland or the diaspora – ache for but don’t have access to.
UNTITLED KQT PROJECT – and our team's nearly decade-long journey to bring it to life – is a testament to queerness as connective tissue that binds us across language, culture, and generation.
We are currently deep in the edit – poring over the 300+ hours of footage we started gathering since before-Covid times. With your support, we'll be able to reach a rough cut of the film by July 2025; finish the entire film by this coming Fall; and start submitting to film festivals for a 2026 premiere.
As part of our impact distribution strategy, our crew will work with queer Asian grassroots groups across the country to host local screening events – both virtual and in-person – that center our community.
Here are 3 things you can do to help us realize our vision!
- Click the blue "FOLLOW" button at the top of our crowdfunding page – totally free! – because if we reach 350 followers, we'll be in the running for up to $10k in matching funds.
- If you can, PLEDGE a donation to our project to help us finish the edit and bring the film to queer community screenings in 2026. No amount is too small – or too big!
- SHARE our campaign page with 3 friends who you think might be interested in learning about our project. Here's a handy link: bit.ly/KQT2025
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Editing
Costs $5,000
We are in the process of reviewing and editing 300+ hours of footage to build the most compelling film we can!
Sound Mixing
Costs $2,500
The soundscape of the film brings everything together – from queer nightlife chaos to the sounds of Seoul.
Color Correction
Costs $2,500
Queer nightlife = vibrant colors and fabulous outfits. Color correction will make sure everything POPS!
Legal Stuff – Fair Use, Music Rights & more
Costs $2,000
Lawyers are expensive. Help us cross our T's and dot our I's so we can get our picture on the big screen.
Impact Distribution: Community Screenings
Costs $2,500
Support us in bringing the film to local queer and trans Asian community screenings across the country.
Festivals
Costs $500
Film festival submission fees are no joke. Help us submit our documentary to festivals around the world!
Share this update!
About This Team
Led by queer & trans people of color, the filmmaking team has cultivated deep trust & strong relationships with the film’s protagonists.
PATRICK G. LEE (they/them), director & producer
Patrick is a queer diasporic Korean filmmaker, writer, and community organizer. Patrick is interested in building collaborative models of filmmaking that equip LGBTQ people of color with media-making skills. “Unspoken” – their epistolary short film on queer Asian coming out stories – won several festival awards, including Best Documentary Short at the Austin Asian American Film Festival. Their docuseries for NBC News on queer Asian history (“Searching for Queer Asian Pacific America”) won the NAMIC Vision Award for Long Form Digital Content.
Patrick has written for Mother Jones, The Nation, ProPublica, The Atlantic, and more. Previously, Patrick worked with the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance to help build a vibrant network of queer Asian grassroots groups across the US. Their work has been supported by Queer|Art, Firelight Media, Sundance, Chicken & Egg, Center for Asian American Media, and more.
YOON RA (they/them), cinematographer
Yoon is a media artist and cultural organizer raised on Lenape Land (NY/NJ) and is currently based in Paju, South Korea. They have worked with journalism platforms such as NBC Asian America, The Atlantic, Huffington Post, and Slate. Their credits include FLY IN POWER (2023); “Searching for Queer Asian Pacific America” (2018); and THE BIT PLAYER (2018).
BEN GARCHAR (he/him), editor
Ben is an award-winning editor based in NYC who works fluidly between documentary and fiction, as he doesn’t understand any difference between the two. Born in Ohio, Ben began his career under the mentorship of Oscar winners Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar, who instilled in him the beauty of deep collaboration, the poetic language of cinema, and filmmaking’s potential to be a deeply activist art form.
In the nearly two decades since, he’s paired with audacious first-time filmmakers and seasoned veterans alike on films that have premiered at Sundance, SXSW, Tribeca, Hot Docs, Full Frame, and BAMcinemaFest. His work as an editor includes ROUGE (2024), AN ACT OF WORSHIP (2022), and FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY (2018).
LIA OUYANG RUSLI (she/they), composer
Lia is a queer and trans Asian American film composer and artist based in Brooklyn. She has written music for films premiering at TIFF, Sundance, SXSW, Curaçao IFFR, and BAMCinématek, as well as exhibitions featured in the Queens Museum and BAM Next Wave Festival. She is the recipient of the 2017-2018 Van Lier Fellowship for Music Composition; 2021 ASCAP Jimmy Van Heusen Award; and 2021 Pioneer Works Music Residency.
Lia scored FANTASMAS (HBO, 2024); PROBLEMISTA (A24, 2023); BRUISER (Hulu, 2022); TEST PATTERN (Kino Lorber, 2019); and the short film “Bambirak” (2020), which won the International Fiction Short Film Jury Award at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.
DANIEL HYO KIM (he/him), title & graphic designer
Daniel is a multidisciplinary designer and art director based in Los Angeles. His work explores how identity and meaning are shaped through material, language, and the cultural signals we learn to read and misread. As a queer Korean American, Daniel is drawn to the in-between spaces where resistance is forged.
Daniel has collaborated with the One Archives on "Days of Rage", a project that resurfaced archival graphic design from LGBTQ protest history; designed titles for "I Know Who I Am", a short film about isolation and self-discovery recently featured on Nowness; and, as part of the creative duo DNGR:DNGR, created a permanent sculpture installation in San Diego titled "Bios Morphe" using glass, neon, and steel to explore the tension between fragility and structure. Across film, public art, and design, Daniel's practice centers community and asks how we make meaning together.
MARNIE SALVANI (she/her), assistant editor
Marnie is a filmmaker based in Los Angeles. A self-proclaimed introvert who has been told “she can be funny” sometimes, she loves coming out of her hermit life to tell stories of comedy and tragedy through film. Her creative dream is to be a champion for voices, representation, safe spaces, and collaboration. She gravitates toward stories that impact and connect human beings through understanding and compassion, sometimes with a dash of [dark] humor.