Experiencing Interruptions?

Earboy

A young boy and his single mother find their relationship strained to the breaking point after a haircut goes wrong.

  • Yohahn Ko
    Director
  • Yohahn Ko
    Writer
  • Kealani Kitaura
    Producer
    Punk Kids
  • Cat Kim
    Key Cast
    "Ha Yun Jung"
  • Aidyn Ahn
    Key Cast
    "Ian Kim"
    Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards 2023
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Thriller, Drama, Family
  • Runtime:
    12 minutes 38 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 30, 2025
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English, Korean
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1.85:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • DisOrient Asian American Film Festival
    Eugene, Oregon
    United States
    World Premiere
    Nominated for best Narrative Short Film
  • Bravemaker Film Festival
    Redwood City, CA
    United States
    Bay Area
    Nominated for Best Short Film
  • Buffalo International Film Festival
    Buffalo, New York
    United States
    New York Premiere
  • Silicon Valley Asian Pacific Film Festival
    Sunnyvale, CA
    United States
  • SF Shorts Film Festival
    San Francisco, California
    United States
    October 30, 2025
    Best Bay Area Narrative
  • NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA)
    Los Angeles
    United States
    December 13, 2025
    Los Angeles
  • Fukuoka International Film Festival
    Fukuoka
    Japan
    December 25, 2025
    Japan
    Best Director
  • Poppy Jasper International Film Festival
    Morgon Hill, CA
    United States
    April 9, 2026
Director Biography - Yohahn Ko

Yohahn Ko is a Korean-American screenwriter and film director whose work fuses intimate family drama with elevated psychological dread. His films explore themes of identity, grief, and connection through a lens of restrained tension and emotional realism.

His work includes the viral short Be Mine (1M+ views), Submergence (Grand Jury Prize, SFSU), Earboy (Top 10 Script on The Red List, now on the festival circuit), and The Night I Met Blue, his first Korean-language film shot in Seoul. He is currently developing two features: Idols, a spiritual horror set in the K-pop industry, and Han, an intergenerational drama about Korean-American fatherhood.

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Director Statement

Earboy is a quiet film. Just a boy, his mother, an apartment, a haircut. But sometimes it’s in the quiet where things start to crack. A slip of the scissors, a cry, and suddenly something buried rises to the surface.

This story comes from a real moment. I was five. My mom had just gained custody. We were living in a shelter, strangers in a way, trying to rebuild a life from scratch. She cut my hair to save money and accidentally nicked my ear. I remember the sting, the blood, but more than that, I remember her face. Scared. Human. Trying her best.

I wouldn’t learn the full story behind my family’s separation until much later. What stayed with me was the silence. Earboy is a way of stepping into that silence - not to explain it, but to feel it. The awkwardness, the closeness, the pain, and maybe even the grace of two people trying to love each other through the mess.