Dear Chaemin

In the midst of COVID-19 travel restrictions, director Bae Cyan sends a series of video letters to her younger sibling in Seoul from the Hague. Do we want a return to the ‘old normal’? The auto-fiction documentary juxtaposes contact tracing, biopolitics and crowd control within the Korean and Dutch contexts, and examines the process by which country-wide and individual surveillance practices contribute to the stigmatisation of and violence against queer communities in Seoul and Asian communities in Europe. Bae Cyan creates an archive of the early stages of the pandemic and her use of images, sound and voice is striking.

Dear Kimsisters in 1959

During the Cold War, The Kim Sisters went to America to make it as a pop group. They soaked in all the Asia-related images and flaunted their abilities. Director Jeon Chae-lin, who is currently studying abroad, searches out the history of other Asian women of 1959, and connects the Kim Sisters to her own story. Spanning across language and power, history and culture, she lifts up the voices of Asian women that have been silenced by men and western-centred power.

Nipple War 3

Television producer Yong is ordered by her department head to pixelate the nipples in an image of a braless female celebrity. Yong, unable to understand why you’d hide a natural part of the body, defies order and starts a war. Alongside the unique and fiery personalities of its characters, Nipple War 3 captured audiences’ attention with its enjoyable and provocative air, whilst also questioning Korean society’s current views about women’s bodies.

Special Scholarship

Eunhee applies for the ‘Student Council Special Scholarship’. Minjung applies, too, setting the girls in competition against one another. Eunhee purchases an expensive musical ticket, and upon discovering this, Minjung reports her to the student council. What is your impression of someone like Eunhee, who applies for a scholarship out of financial difficulty and then buys a pricey ticket for a musical? Despite the friends having to compete over who is ‘poorer’ for the sake of a scholarship, the film captures moments of closeness, portraying a reality far from smooth.