Candle in the Wave
Project 1 _ Hong Hyung-sook The children who are enthusiastically painting and cutting a doll. What stories will be told at the Square? - Project 10 _ Kim Jeong-geun The janitorial worker from the Busan Subway Station, Kim Young-ja talks about how she hopes to see a clean world, just like how she cleans everywhere in the subway.
Kim Jeong-keun
Hong Hyung-sook
Emmanuel Moonchil Park
Hwang Yoon
Kangyu Ga-ram
Kim Sang-pae
Lee Chang-min
Choi Jong-ho
Kim Su-min
Kim Cheol-min
Also Directed by Kim Jeong-keun
The workers talk about the pleasure of starting work in a shipyard, the pride of making the vessel, and the recognition of workers and the high spirit of their novel struggle. There was solidarity everywhere, even in each other's mind. But there is no more energy in Hanjin Shipyard. The workers have been laid-off and the strike shows no sign of stopping. A 34 year-old worker committed suicide as well. It's the fourth who has become a martyr for the cause. Why have the laborers who worked at Hanjin shipyard separated like this? They are starting to ask themselves why they decided to hate each other.
In 2011, social network and the Hope Bus initiated a new movement which fractured the firm and unilateral media while demanding the arrogant political and financial circles to be awakened. They jumped over the high fences of Hanjin HIC using their mobile phones and ladders and finally embraced the moment when the rally became a festival. The Hope Bus slowly evolved to become a great big carnival that invited anyone and everyone to join in.
Also Directed by Hong Hyung-sook
With the implementation of the 1988 government policy to shut down and combine small schools around the nation, Doomeal Elementary School in Doomealee Village, Gapuyeong-gun, is designated to be closed.
Independent films that do not have a less than 20 years history. They do not have lost hope and passion despite repeated conflicts and ups and downs. It was possible because of the belief that independent films are at the center of the world in their role, even though they are located on the periphery of society. Through the testimonies of many independent filmmakers, current activities, and footage, Korean independent films are shed new light. The periphery is the center, and the center is on the periphery. A reflection on the inside of the independent film industry to find trust in each other, talking about the hopes of independent films looking for a new path.
In 1990, due to the skyrocketing rental price, many tenants suffered and even took their own lives. Showing their memorial service as a starting point, we approach the problems of housing policy and the social structural problems of Korean society.
Professor Song, staying in Germany, was suspected of espionage and banned from Korea. Now he's expecting to visit Korean after 33 years. The Border City', by whech Berlin was called during the period of partition, could also be a name for Seoul naw that the city is haunted by the 'red complex' and refuses Prof. Song to come back to his homeland.
This is a record of six years since the closing of the Doomeal branch school. At the end of 1994, the residents of Doomaelee, who protested the closure order of Doomeal Elementary School in Doomaelee village (Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do), developed an anti-closure movement and opened a school in the village hall to teach children. Due to the unreasonable demands of the education office and the government, it is discontinued.
In 2003 Song Du-yul, a philosophy professor, decides to go back to his homeland after spending thirty-seven years in Germany. Within a week after crossing the border, his reputation falls from a respected global political figure to an infamous communist spy. During a five-year-long trial, he was arrested and held in custody. This throws Korean society into turmoil and brings a big conflict between the Conservative and the Progressive parties. The filmmaker calmly contemplates this long period of the incident in detail and depicts a society with an indifferent manner. The story builds through an accretion of whimsical facts and it sometimes brings up uncomfortable truths which will irritate viewers. This film is a camera inside of us that evokes what viewers may have tried to forget.
Junha is one of the most difficult children at the school. His autism causes him to attack his classmates and even teachers without warning. Each outburst further isolates Junha from his community as his teachers and peers struggle to find a way to live "with" Junha. The camera provides an intimate look into this society, leaving the question; what is human entity and how is it connected?
Gangjeong Village, located at the southernmost part of Jeju Island's Seogwipo City, is in the true sense a 'breathtaking land of water.' In this film, eight directors independently yet collaboratively orchestrate a clever and humorous "mission" at this place where the groundwork for building a naval military base is in progress.
The 54th, the record of that summer, is, as the name suggests, the record of the 54-day long struggle for 'nullification of an ex officio sign' by Hyundai Precision Industry workers in Ulsan in the hot summer of 1993. Prior to collective bargaining on wages, the company secretly signed a unilateral agreement (signed ex officio) with one of the labor union leaders and tried to put it into practice. The workers of Ulsan Hyundai Precision Industry were enraged at the sense of betrayal of the union leader they trusted and the despicable treatment of the company, and for 54 days in the hot summer, they start a strike to get a fair price for their labor.
Also Directed by Emmanuel Moonchil Park
A queer culture festival has been held in Daegu, a city of conservatives, for ten years, which comes second after Seoul. When people were ignorant of "queer," they began reckless ventures. Despite the disapproval of authorities and the interruption of hostile groups, the festival has become a significant human rights festival in the region. The story of a festival who broke through hatred and discrimination.
The small county of Seongju staged protests against the THAAD. Young mothers led protests from concerns about their kids and the exposure to radiation. Gradually, they learn the system is faulty.
An intimate 7-year journey of a family struggling to overcome past wounds of reverse migration (from Canada to Korea) begins when the director's little sister decides to be an un-wed single mom. The little sister decides to raise the child in Canada as she never felt welcome in her parent's homeland, South Korea. The lives of parents, intertwined with Korea's modern history is revealed, while family members try to come together to face the challenges of raising a new baby outside of the traditional family form. What starts out as the director's personal journey of re-discovering the lives of family members and self, evolves into broader themes of cultural differences, identity, and belonging.
Also Directed by Hwang Yoon
Roads criss cross our landscape, making it convenient for human beings to travel. However, countless creatures also die as a result of these roads. This piece documents South Korea`s first in-depth study of “road kill.” It shows how drivers, who race along these roads, destroy animals` natural habitats and kill them in road accidents. Adopting an environmentalist point-of-view, this film questions the economic logic that girds development.
After quitting filmmaking about the tidal flat that underwent Saemangeum Seawall Project a few years ago, she moved to Gunsan-si, a city of Saemangeum, as she seemed destined to. Sura: A Love Song delivers the course of rediscovering the beauty of the tidal flat working together with the Citizens’ Survey Group on Saemangeum that has continued its research for nearly twenty years.
This film takes place during the winter of last year when there was a nationwide slaughter of livestock to put a stop to the foot-and-mouth disease. Filmmaker Yun witnesses hundreds of pigs buried alive in a neighborhood farm. She suddenly realizes that she has never seen a pig before, and decides to follow its life closely. Yun goes deep into the mountains to meet a pig farmer who raises his pigs in a traditional way. Observing the daily routines of the mother pig Ship-soon and her piglet Don-soo, Yun discovers new facts she has never known before. As she develops a bond with the lovely pigs and acknowledges another side of the farm and meat industry, it becomes more difficult for her to enjoy pork cutlets as she used to. And to make matters worse, her husband and young son, Do-young, are not making her choice of daily menus easier. As she falls into a deep dilemma, what is she supposed to do? Her awareness about eating meat begins to penetrate her every day.
Also Directed by Kangyu Ga-ram
At Gwanghwamun Square, everyone fought against the corruption of President Park Geun-hye. Feminists had the additional burden to fight misogyny in the square.
Our family lives in Eunma Apartment in Gangnam, Seoul Korea. My father, whose business had got tough, had borrowed money using the house with security. Monthly interests has become a bit too much for him, but he never thinks about selling the house, expecting that the price of the house might go up. I don't quite understand him. But as time goes by I get to know our family's economic situation, and as I can fee his anxiety about the price of the house I am also being uneasy. Could he ever sell Eunma Apartment?
To feminists of all generations - is life treating you well?
Stories of three women who have been living in Itaewon, Seoul, Korea since the era that the town was run by U.S dollars of the U.S. Army.
Three years since Korean society was first rocked by the MeToo movement, how much has changed? As the title suggests, #AfterMeToo tackles the activism and resistance that remained after the initial Me Too fever cooled. This anthology documentary ties together four shorts, dealing with the ‘School Me Too’ movement amongst teenagers, the fallout of the Me Too movement in the art world, confessions surrounding sexual trauma from long ago and its respective healing process, and the sexual self-determination of women.
Also Directed by Lee Chang-min
From Kim Won Seok, the writer of Descendants of the Sun, a drama about a special bodyguard with a background in special investigations and the Hallyu star he is supposed to protect.