Eli's Liquor Store

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Audience Rating: (1) login to rate this Embed		Directed by Arnold Chun Alonzo Jones Written by Arnold Chun Alonzo Jones Produced by Arnold Chun Joseph H. Shim Yealee Song Genre Drama Language: English, Korean Subtitles: English Runtime: 18 min Release Date: March 2008 Advisory: Language Filmmaker's Website Send to Friends URL:
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Plot Outline

Elijah’s Liquor Store is set in Koreatown circa 1999. It’s the story of Elijah Gooden, a 43-year-old African-American man from Atlanta, Georgia. He graduated from Georgia Tech University and worked in corporate America before moving his family to Los Angeles to start his own business. He and his family experience culture shock and adversity as they struggle to build their livelihood in an area dominated by Asian-American business owners.

Although Elijah is the main narrator of the story, the different cast of patrons he interacts with, provides a broad insight into society as a whole. His customers are white, black, Asian and Latino. He employs a Korean and Latino worker. His neighbor next door is Korean. It's worlds apart from what he knew in Atlanta, and despite the varying degrees of suspicion, contempt, resentment and prejudice that he faces, Gooden tries to overlook racial lines and instead, focus on the humanity of every person and the frailties of their condition.

In the end, relationships are re-examined and ideologies are challenged. Communities that have long been separated by language and cultural barriers as well as painful histories and even media propaganda find that change begins with one person. When one person shifts, everything shifts. When one person is committed to change, that person can powerfully bring about change. If our society needs a wake up call, then Elijah’s Liquor Store is the alarm clock.

Awards
Winner Best Short Film - 2007 Harlem International Film Festival
Nominated for Best Short Film (Melvin Van Peebles Award) - 2007 San Francisco Black Film Festival

Filmmaker Notes

Alonzo Jones and I began to collaborate a little over 2 years ago. It was during the fall of 2006 where I approached him about a project to examine two different groups of communities that have been separated by language, culture, and media propaganda. Alonzo Jones is African-American whereas I am Korean-American. Ever since the Riots of Los Angeles almost 16 years ago, little has been accomplished to bring these two communities together for healing and discussion. It was this separation that we wanted to challenge. It was this issue we wanted to address. It was this very moment in history that changed a demographic of Los Angeles forever.

Our vision in this story is to examine the human condition. We wanted to portray an average immigrant in search of the American Dream through the life of a small business owner who often times, is misunderstood. It is our goal to reach out and open up the various communities in our city and bring forth change. To encourage our next generation to pursue community building. Only images and stereotypes that continue to exist will distort harmony among people. Everyday is a challenge and every challenge helps to make a change.

Castlist
ALONZO JONES
XAVIER JONES
NYAH BENNETT TISDELL
JANICE ANN JOHNSON
GREG JOUNG PAIK
ARMONN LIVINGSTON
BRANDY VITAL
ARNOLD CHUN
EDDIE J. LEE
DAVIS CHOH
ISIS GLAUDE
CHRISTIANN CASTELLANOS
HANA MAE LEE
CASEY CHIN
STEFFINNIE PHROMMANY
JOSEPH STEVEN YANG
SAMMY MONTERO
TAI S. YOON

Music
Pakk Hui

Sound
Joseph H. Shim

Cinematographers
Milton Santiago

Film Editors
Daniel J. Ahn

Art Direction
Rebecca Cho

Costume Design
Sven Christensen

Makeup
Kristy Horiuchi

Special Effects
Chris J. Kim

Crewlist
Owen Sun
Yumi Oh
Willis Chung
Joe Seo

Screenings
Austin Asian Film Festival 2007
Harlem International Film Festival 2007
Hollywood Black Film Festival 2007
San Francisco Black Film Festival 2007
Utopia Film Festival 2007
New Filmmakers Film Festival 2007
National Black History Month Expo - Smithsonian 2008
Martin Luther King Celebration - Beverly Hills, CA 2008
Langston Hughes Film Festival - Seattle 2008
Imaginasian TV - Nationwide - 2008