Diversity, Memory, plan Z:
Some tendencies examined
by the past prize-winning works
LEE Ji-Sun, Editor
The DMZ International Documentary Film Festival which marks the 9th anniversary this year has again been born as a documentary festival for cosmopolitans beyond the vision called the documentary film festival which represents Asia. It showed 116 films from 36 countries last year. And the total audiences were 18,909 persons and were at all time highs being sold out 37 times. However, independent of the expansion of the external scope, the film festival should answer to the question which moives are shown. For this, I got to have time to catch a glimpse of the films which were shown in the film festival focusing on the prize-winning works. It’s because we should check which value is thinned out to expand the external scope and if the film festival has an eternal topic of cinemas called ‘memories’, and if reality is properly mirrored in movies. I do not think it’s a coincidence that ‘DMZ’, the initial letters of the demilitarized zone, correspond to these indicators as if they make a promise to them.
D Diversity
The diversity is the characteristics which are frequently mentioned
when you talk about documentary films (Hereafter, docufilms).
“I hope that you had precious time to look at the world in the theater through various documfilms that face various issues including refugees in the world that we are living in, problems of separated families and comfort women, records of painful history such as damage of the Second World War, art, love, various viewpoints of human life, and Korean various problems.”
It’s the words that director Cho Jae-hyun delivered in the message of the closing ceremony. Documfilms weave various materials which are difficult to be arranged by a category in various forms of expression when compared to the fiction films that the same actors and actresses continuously appear in the movies that treat box-office key words of similar styles with the genres which are in fashion by time period. Because of this, I first grab hold of the large flow under the pretext of diversity.
First, the places treated in movies are various. Varied spaces which become the background are shown with the aptly titled international documentary film festivals. Critical minds of each country ranging from the Czech Republic, Mexico, and Vietnam to Lebanon, Iraq, and Denmark can be examined starting with Israel of
Second, there are various materials which show thematic consciousness. you can meet “Ochetuji Diary” that treated religious problems, “Bombay Beach” that did environmental problems, “Goodbye Homerun”, the first highschool baseball docufilm in Korea as well as “The Border City 2” that did freedom of thought in a place. In addition, the movies based on sex which is difficult to be rashly shown can be found. There are “Summer Days In Bloom” and “Troublers” which tell about gender identity, “Red Maria 2” which listened to sex workers, and furthermore, “Uncomfortable Eyes, Uncomfortable Truth” that treated teenagers’ sex.
Finally, the form of express which presents materials is various. Film languages selected by experimental attempts of directors realize images and deliver thematic consciousness in a unique way. “Birds of September” makes you feel like a poetic docufilm by listing various images of a town in Lebanon and for “Twenty Eight Nights and A Poem”, images shown by producing screens moderately, repeating sounds, and using various formats seems to be an essay. The director shows the old film of a photo studio by enlarging it with magnifier and at the same time, solves the docufilm by agonizing about ordinary imaging grammar which utilizes narration or footage including showing the relevant interviews through the screen of a cell phone in a fresh way.
The works of art which naturally escaped from common interpretation about things or phenomena attracted your attention. Examples include
Conflicts and disputes among countries were treated or environmental problems frequently appeared in the initial stage of the film festival, while there are tendencies to seek harmony of more various values as it got to have its wide spectrum.
M Memory
Memory is recorded and
the records become history.
“The attempts to find moderate points of the things which should be forgotten and remembered are the inevitable result of fate of men who should live between life and death”
[n2]
Three elements of memory can be action to save new experiences, action to keep the registered contents not to be forgotten, and activities to be able to recollect the details which are kept. [n3] These three elements tend to be well utilized in docufilms that treat past things. “The Basement Satellite” of Director Kim, Hyeong-ju who won the audience award in 2013 gives you new experience as it recorded Media Artist Song, Ho-jun’s ambitious plan to launch a satellite. Even though it ended in failure, the process to launch an individual satellite which was first attempted in the world will stay your memory through the movie and will be registered in history of challenges in the future.
In action to keep the registered contents, memory is more likely to be confused with imagination.
In the docufilms which aim at things that disappeared, remembrance is utilized as an important element. Examples include “599.4km” based on heartbroken memories of the whole nation, “Nevertheless” which collect scattered memories with the Yeongdo Bridge opened in 47 years as the center, and “Let’s Dance” that the warm-hearted viewpoint of the director about women who keep their painful memories. “Let’s Dance” of Director Cho, Se-yeong who first won the grand price in the film festival by participating in the international competition part with the Korean docufilm makes audiences experience Korean society’s double standard about women as women who experienced artificial abortions stood in front of the camera without being blurred and explained their memories frankly and bravely.
Z Plan Z
If Plan A is the best, Plan B is the second best,
Plan Z means the final survival strategy.
Government was changed two times, the world rapidly changed for 10 years, and there were rich discourses on movies in large and small events since the DMZ International Documentary Film Festival was held in 2009. Many people ranging from the senior citizens who experienced unforgettable painful history to the elementary school students who surely remember wounds of years even though they are young gathered in the square, asked the government what justice is, and held candles. And painful young people got to seek minimal life by getting ride of everything except the things that they need to survive. Furthermore, “Train To Busan”, the movie based on the only survival, drew audiences totaling 11,565,827 persons in the theater district. The people who were interested in living well due to the well-being craze got to aim at survival only. This sad situation is more fiercely shown in docufilms.
There are “When Worlds Collide”, “Miring Arirang”, “Czech Peace”, and “The Story of Namildang in Yongsan”. And “Those Who Jump” that treats the refugees who search for the places to live and “Red Clothes” and “Alive” that did workers’ survival. Especially in the youth prize-winning works, there are many cases based on entrance examinations, career, and employment which are the most urgent survival problem. Examples include “We Didn’t Start the Fire.”, “I want to Be a Nineteen”, and “A School of Hope”. The movies mentioned above are suggestive in that they literally aim at survival just by changing the places from opposition protesters to barriers of borders and from workplace to examination hell.
Of course, they treat animals’ survival as well as men.
Some tendencies of documentary films were examined targeting the past prize-winning works in the film festival by classifying them into Diversity, Memory, and Plan Z until now. When I think of “Nannok Of The North”, the first documentary film in the world produced by an american, the camera which had targeted other persons in the initial stage has gradually focused on communities called us. And individual narration was treated in the past time, while the tendency to tell about your own individual stories has recently shown as one-person media platforms have developed. The people who were conscious of the eyes of others and led their lives to meet them started to tell about their special stores through documentary films. So the people who thought they are minorities begin to have relationships with one another and became ‘us’ agin by creating communities. We are facing various types of society and follow memories of persistent survivors through documentary films. And sometimes, we become witnesses of terrible events. Some people are out on the road with cameras becoming observers of the same age as fierce social activists even in the moment that we agonize about Plan Z for survival. The records of their memories which will be history can be shared with you in the 9th DMZ International Documentary Film Festival arranged with Baekseok Mega Box as the center from September 21 (Thurs.) to 28 (Thurs.), 2017.
[note 1] The Czech Republic (The grand winner’s work in the 2nd DMZ International Documentary Film Festival “Czech Peace”), Mexico(The grand winner’s work in the 3rd DMZ International Documentary Film Festival “The Tiniest Place”), Vietnam(The grand winner’s work in the 4th DMZ International Documentary Film Festival “With or Without Me”), Korea(The grand winner’s work in the 5th DMZ International Documentary Film Festival “Let’s Dance”), Lebanon(The grand winner’s work in the 6th DMZ International Documentary Film Festival “Birds of September”), Iraq(The grand winner’s work in the 7th DMZ International Documentary Film Festival “Homeland (Iraq Year Zero)”), Demark(The grand winner’s work in the 8th DMZ International Documentary Film Festival “Those Who Jump”)
[note 2] Ricoeur, P.(1996) ‘Memory, Forgetfulness, and History’ in History, Memory, and Action. The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities : 13~24
[note 3] Kang, Yeong-hee “Encyclopedia of Life Science” (2008)
[note 4] (Joint authorship)Lee, Yang-su