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Ralph & Bug

Ralph has traded in the street name “El Diablo” for “The Urban Dad”. A vulnerable portrait of black fatherhood and government housing, the former drug dealer turned local dad’s group leader navigates Brooklyn's unjust housing conditions while caring for his eleven-year-old daughter Bug.

  • Christine Thomas Yoon
    Director
  • Ralph James
    Key Cast
  • Quelinda (Bug) James
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short
  • Genres:
    Documentary, Social Justice
  • Runtime:
    17 minutes 15 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 11, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    0 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - New York University
  • Better Cities Film Festival
    Detroit, MI
    United States
    October 8, 2023
    Better Communities Award; Best Student Film
  • Pan African Film Festival
    Los Angeles
    United States
    February 16, 2024
    West Coast Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival
    Los Angeles
    United States
    May 5, 2024
    Official Selection
  • Margaret Mead Film Festival
    New York City
    United States
    May 12, 2024
    New York Premiere
    Emerging Visual Anthropology Showcase
  • DeadCenter Film Festival
    Oklahoma City
    United States
    June 8, 2024
    Oklahoma Premiere
    Official Selection; Cinematic Advocacy Panel
Director Biography - Christine Thomas Yoon

Christine Thomas Yoon is a storyteller, a teacher, and a dreamer. Her love for filmmaking is a seed carried along from her Peace Corps ventures in West Africa, planted during her masters at NYU in Documentary Film, Activism, & Education, and now rooted in the vibrant home she has found in Brooklyn, NY.

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Director Statement

The story of Ralph and Bug unfolded while attempting to create a film about the housing injustice and gentrification within my community. In the Q&A following my first screening, a comment from an audience member marks the significance of this film in poetic simplicity. “This is a story about a bathroom. This is a story we pass by everyday. And yet, we cannot deny we have been changed by it, for the better.”

This film creates a portrait of a lived realities that aren't often given the spotlight. Public housing, single, black fatherhood, community-led healing. Just as knowing Ralph and Quelinda has changed me, bringing me to care more deeply about local housing justice and my neighbors living very different lives than my own, I hope their story sparks the same compassion within others.