Social Archives - London Korean Film Festival

I Am More

admin — Mon, 03 Oct 2022 06:02:27 +0000

A promising ballerina, More gave up the dream and has been working as a drag queen artist for 20 years. One day, John Cameron Mitchell, in Seoul for a run of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, catches More’s show. Soon after More is invited to perform in New York for the 50th anniversary of Stonewall Uprising.

In this, his third documentary film, Lee Il-ha appears to have met a protagonist who fully resonates with his own style: Mo Jimin, queer drag artist who majored in ballet at art school. I Am More is as much Mo Jimin’s film as it is Lee Il-ha’s. The stage name More, or ‘Mo-uh (毛魚)’, meaning ‘hairy fish’, is also the title of Mo Jimin’s essay collection published at the beginning of this year. Lee Il-ha has consistently focused his interest on those who have been captured by the idea of ‘life as a stage’. The stage is a boxing ring (A Crybaby Boxing Club, 2014), as well as a road upon which ‘counter’-protest against peddlers of hate speech unfolds (Counters, 2017). Unbound by the conventions of documentary-based objectivity, Lee Il-ha’s style maximises the fantastical nature of the concept of ‘life as a stage’ that has captured I Am More’s protagonist.

Yoo Un-seong

The post I Am More appeared first on London Korean Film Festival.

Melting Icecream

admin — Mon, 03 Oct 2022 05:56:07 +0000

Melting Icecream is assumed to be a record of the 1990s democratisation movement, but the work actually began with the discovery of severely flood-damaged film. Although the work started out as a documentation of the film’s restoration process, the end product is anything but a simple record. Mixed in amongst the portrayal of the restoration process are interviews with photographers part of the so-called ‘democracy generation’; archive footage of conflict scenes in the 2000s over temporary working conditions and struggles over migrant workers; scenic shots, either devoid of people or where the individual’s identity is not revealed; videos taken beside statues with unseen faces.

The feature-length debut of photographer and art director Hong Jinhwon throws the traditional sense of documentary into disarray with his unique audio-visual arrangement.

Yoo Un-seong

The post Melting Icecream appeared first on London Korean Film Festival.

The 2nd Repatriation

admin — Mon, 03 Oct 2022 05:48:30 +0000

Kim Dongwon is an unusual documentarist, who despite his awareness of the urgency of a given situation, rarely responds to it right away. He has often been classed as an ‘activist’, but the way in which he manifests as an artist is considerably slow and cautious. Two decades on, The 2nd Repatriation is the sequel to his 2003 film Repatriation, which examined the lives of long-term unconverted political prisoners repatriated to North Korea. In the follow-up, Kim Dongwon focuses instead on the long-term prisoners who, though they ‘converted’ through coercion, still hope for repatriation to North Korea; in particular, a character by the name of Kim Youngshik. However, as much as the documentary is about Kim Youngshik and the ‘converted’ long term political prisoners, it is also about Kim Dongwon himself. Here we come face to face with those mighty individuals who tell eloquently of how, for them, the 20th-century was never over, and was drawn to a halt by force, in danger of being buried entirely.

Yoo Un-seong

The post The 2nd Repatriation appeared first on London Korean Film Festival.

Under Construction

admin — Mon, 27 Jun 2022 12:44:46 +0000

Jang’s award-winning first feature reflects on the routine of construction worker Sudoek. From a captivating, careful look, as he manufactures reinforcement bars, the film gradually uncovers the physical, emotional and mental impact of his forty-year career in construction. Jang’s compositions, as she delicately interlaces their discussions with her footage, explore the boundaries between the public and the private.

On-camera interviews and phone conversations define the soundscape, and as the voices’ tonal dynamics change so does the texture of the spaces that make up the geography of the film. A family dimension is revealed early on and remains integral to the film’s perspective throughout this portrait of a working life. The factory, a highway, building sites, Jang’s apartment, the countryside: each appear as if existing on a continuous yet ever-changing spatial spectrum in Under Construction, as Jang contemplates the consequences of the labour-centred mindset of a generation.

Foteini Klini

The post Under Construction appeared first on London Korean Film Festival.

Awoke

admin — Tue, 05 Oct 2021 13:00:51 +0000

After a car accident, Jaegi (Jo Min-sang) finds himself paralyzed and unable to walk. Given his difficult economic circumstances, he needs to find a job – but this will only be possible with government support, which requires a physical evaluation. After his exam he is shocked to receive a grade 5 rating, usually given to those with only minor disabilities. Disqualified from the support he desperately needs, he embarks on a quest through various bureaucracies to get his rating overturned.

Awoke has its roots in a filmmaking workshop given on Jeju Island for disabled residents. One of the participants, Jung Jae-ik, decided to write a script based partly on his own experiences and other incidents he had heard about in the disabled community. Jung would ultimately go on to co-direct the resulting feature. Eye-opening in many ways, Awoke is well told, expertly acted and has a surprisingly sharp edge.

The post Awoke appeared first on London Korean Film Festival.