Earl. (2025)

Earl. is an award-winning documentary feature film profiling the American composer Earl Kim, whose remarkable life and creativity defies categorization. Born into poverty, Earl was raised by his Korean immigrant parents who worked the fields of Dinuba, California. He learned to play the keyboard from free lessons by a church organist and later from a touring pianist and composer for seven years.

Earl went on to study with Arnold Schoenberg at UCLA. In 1941, Earl was drafted and served as a US combat intelligence officer during World War II. He earned the rank of captain and sharpshooter, enduring racism by his fellow servicemen. Earl flew over Nagasaki one day after the atomic bomb was dropped, an experience that shaped his artistic vision.

He returned to UC Berkeley after the war. Earl stood up to McCarthyism and refused to sign The Loyalty Oath. It cost him his job as an instructor. Earl went on to teach at Princeton for fifteen years, and at Harvard for twenty-three years as the James M. Ditson Professor of Music. In 1965, Earl visited Samuel Beckett at his apartment in Paris, receiving permission to set the writer's literary texts to the composer's music resulting in a startling, daring and innovative form that included chamber music, song, the spoken word, dance and even film.

The documentary features interviews with global artists such as the iconic violinist and conductor Itzhak Perlman who recorded Earl's violin concerto with Seiji Ozawa and The Boston Symphony Orchestra. The director filmed thirty three interviews on three continents including Earl's students and collaborators such as the Pulitzer Prize winning composer John Harbison, the soprano Benita Valente, the PBS television host and conductor Scott Yoo, and award winning composers Paul Salerni, Anthony Brandt and others.

Directed by Emmy Award-winner Ty Kim, the documentary has been made an official selection by multiple festivals around the country and won awards including Best Director at the Cannes World Film Festival. It has been presented by invitation at Carnegie Hall, Harvard, Princeton, Lehigh, Rice, and hosted by the Korean Consul Generals in Los Angeles and New York. The film was invited to open the 2025 International Samuel Beckett Festival at the University of Edinburgh. Ty Kim was recognized as an honorary lifetime member of the Samuel Beckett Society.

The film and its director have been profiled by national press including Forbes and an extended radio report by the NPR Station in Pennsylvania:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/joanmacdonald/2025/07/27/earl-highlights-a-musical-genius-too-few-have-heard-of/

https://www.wvia.org/podcast/artscene-with-erika-funke/2025-09-30/documentary-film-earl-ty-kim-september-30-2025

The documentary's official website can be found at: https://www.earlkimcomposer.com