IFC presents Rooftop Films Short Film Showcase

VISION TEST
(Wes Kim | 6:00 | Documentary)

Thursday, July 10, 2008 | 4:06 PM

Who would you feel most comfortable with as CEO of a Fortune 500 company? What begins as a routine eye exam turns into an examination of people's subconscious attitudes towards race, gender and power.

Wes Kim really catches us off guard with this one. This well-developed 6-minute satirical documentary film has you questioning your own predispositions, making apparent the differences we perceive in people because of their race, gender, and power. We enter into a routine Vision Test, and for the first minute, nothing seems out of the ordinary, if perhaps a bit blurry...but when the questions change to which person we'd prefer, choosing "1" or "2" comes with a lot more meaning.

Vision Test is based on a study of racial bias conducted by the Committee of 100, a national nonpartisan organization composed of American citizens of Chinese descent, targeting issues affecting that community and U.S.-China Relations. Wes Kim is from Seattle, Washinigton, and his films have appeared in nearly forty U.S. and international film festivals and have screened in seventeen countries. Rooftop Films screened this in 2004 as part of our annual July 4th "Un-American Films" program, a series of shorts that urges us to take a closer look and question what it means to be "American". Wes has won numerous awards for his unique short, and you can check out his other films or buy his DVDs at his website.