Private Project

The Valorant Ones

As one friend is about to move back to Khazikstan and another young friend is taken from this world too soon, The Valorant Ones explores the quiet feelings running through teen friendship, multiple homelands, storytelling, and loss. Using first person stories, B-roll, and poetic text, this experimental doc visits a family grave in Korea, a Klamath memorial in Oregon, and hangouts in California - capturing glimpses of young people doing their best in these times and a sense of fantasy just below the surface.

  • Junobi Ree
    Director
  • Junobi Ree
    Writer
  • Junobi Ree
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental, Short, Student
  • Runtime:
    7 minutes 20 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    November 30, 2022
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    Korea, Republic of, United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - San Diego
  • San Diego Asian Film Festival
    San Diego, CA
    November 19, 2022
  • Central Film Festival
    Springfield, MO
    April 7, 2023
  • DIYDS National Youth Film Festival
    Cambridge, MA
    June 9, 2023
Director Biography - Junobi Ree

Junobi Ree is a young filmmaker based in San Diego, California.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

I made this film as a new friend was about to move back to Khazikstan and another young friend was taken from us too soon. Although not about gaming, the title is both a call out to Valorant, a video game that recently became popular among many Asian American teens, and the admiration I feel for young people doing their best to get through these times together.

The Valorant Ones captures this reflective time for me. I wanted to make a doc that felt like a narrative film, something that gave the feeling of small pleasures and bigger moments as a teenager. I was also inspired by Stranger Things - specifically in between the fight scenes when the friendships between the teen characters would grow even stronger, and the show’s sense of ordinary mixed with fantasy. I also wanted to build a world by mixing sights and sounds from different geographies, and simple stories about playing games, love notes, old rivers and classroom shenanigans.