[INFORMATION]
PARK Soo-nam, PARK Maeui | 2023 | Documentary | 141min
[SYNOPSIS]
The director of this film, second-generation Zainichi Korean Park Soo-nam was born in 1935, and she was 10 years old when she faced the fall of the Japanese empire and the liberation of her ancestral homeland in 1945. Her father was a survivor of the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake in Japan- who was saved by the help of his Japanese neighbors in the midst of the Korean massacre. This is her fifth film that presents her work to document historical experiences and the voices of colonial victims, which she has filmed since 1985.
Her journey to document historical testimony starts with Lee Jin-woo, an 18-year-old second-generation Zainichi Korean juvenile executed in 1962 for the murder of a woman. She joined the campaign to protest against the death sentence, and her book "Crime, Death, and Love," a collection of the letters sent back and forth between the director and Lee Jin-woo, became a bestseller in Japan. After the execution of Lee Jin-woo, she started her work to interview the first-generation Zainichi Koreans, in order to protest again the discrimination prevailed in Japan towards the Zainichi Koreans. Her documentary films are made with the historical testimonies by the Korean atomic bomb survivors, Korean civilian workers and "comfort women" who were forcibly taken to Okinawa during the war by the military.
This film is a joint work by the director Park Soo-nam, who now lost her eyesight, and her daughter and co-director Park Maeui. They recovered the deteriorating unreleased film, and started a journey by visiting Nagasaki's Gunkanjima in 2021 for the first time in 30 years - a requiem for the colonial victims.
[DIRECTORS' NOTE]
By Park Soo-nam
In the summer of 1945, at the age of 10, I, who had always regarded the emperor as my god, simultaneously faced the defeat of Japan and the liberation of my ancestral homeland. Between the division of North and South, I started to search for my belonging, and dived deeply into the darkness of the colonial history, which has been remained hidden since the end of the war. My journey to recover the voices of Korean atomic bomb survivors and Korean "comfort women" that have been kept quiet for more than 50 years, has also became a journey in search of my own identity. I have produced four documentaries in the past, but I had the vast amount of footage that was never made into films, so together with my daughter, I made this film, to "reclaim" the deaths of the colonial victims.
By Park Maeui
This project began with the restoration of 100,000 feet of 16mm film shot by my mother. The film is inscribed with the voices of forced laborers by Japanese colonizers, Korean atomic bomb survivors living in Korea and Japan who has been suffering from the aftereffects of the bombing, survivors of the Battle of Okinawa, and the victims of the suppression of the independence movement. As a third-generation Zainichi Korean, just like my mother and grandparents, I had to face the conflict of having my identity torn between my Japanese name and my Korean name. Since my childhood, I witnessed the history of discriminations through my mother's documentary films, and learned the true stories of Korean history, that eventually gave me strength to resist the racism that we face today. I want to bring the victims' voices, back from the old films, and see how their human rights were restored in the post war years. This is a journey, not only to fight against the racism that is still deep-rooted in Japan today, but also to resist the eschewed historical accounts that inclines to hide the traces of violences prevailed during the Japanese imperialism. My mother barely can see now and almost lost her sight, but through her eyes and memories, I was able to see the true history behind these film. Together with my mother, I traced the voices of the history to bring their life back to the present.
[FILMOGRAPHY]
2016 <The Silenced> 117min
2012 <Nuchigafu - Life is a Treasure “Gyokusai” Stories in the Battle of Okinawa> 132min
1991 <Song of Ariran -voices from Okinawa> 100min
1985 <The other HIROSHIMA Korean A-bomb Victims Tell Their Story> 58min
[FESTIVAL/WORLD SALES]
Cinema DAL
(03073) 2F, Sungkyunkwan-ro 5-gil 11-3, Jongno-gu, Seoul, KOREA
Tel. +82-2-337-2135
Fax. +82-2-325-2137
Email. cinemadal@cinemadal.com
되살아나는 목소리 (Voices of the Silenced)
[INFORMATION]
박수남, 박마의 | 2023 | 다큐멘터리 | 141분
[SYNOPSIS]
위안부, 강제노역, 원폭 피해자... 일제 강점기 조선인 피해자들의 목소리에 귀 기울인 재일조선인 2세 다큐멘터리스트 '박수남'
그의 집에 쌓인 작품화되지 못한 10만 피트, 약 50시간 분량의 16mm 필름
기억의 망망대해에서 수집해낸 역사가 강렬하게 들려온다.
잊혀진 피해자들의 표정을 되살려내고 식민과 전쟁으로 잃어버린 목소리를 되찾아간다!
[DIRECTORS' NOTE]
박수남 감독
1945년 여름, 일본 천황을 신으로 믿어온 10살의 저는 일본의 패전과 조국의 해방을 동시에 맞이했습니다. '내가 존재해야 할 장소는 어디인가' 그것을 찾아 해당 후에도 은폐된 역사의 어둠 속으로 내려갔습니다.
히로시마로, 그리고 오키나와의 전쟁터로. 존재를 빼앗겨 온 조선인 원폭 피해자, 전장으로 끌려간 위안부, 그리고 일본군의 명령으로 자결을 강요당한 오키나와 사람들.
그 침묵을 영상으로 기록하여 빼앗긴 존재를 회복시키는 여정은 저 자신의 정체성을 되찾는 여행이었습니다. 전쟁으로 인한 희생자들의 한(恨)을 역사의 빛 속으로 되살리고, 비극을 되풀이하지 않기 위한 저의 여정은 여전히 계속되고 있습니다.
박마의 감독
저는 필름에 새겨진 한 사람 한 사람의 한(恨)을 알기 위해 어머니가 걸어온 삶의 여정에 귀를 기울였습니다.
30여 년 전 촬영된 군함도 영상이 스크린에 비춰지면 작은 배를 타고 젊은 어머니와 재일조선인 1세 남성이 저 멀리 작은 섬을 바라보며 가혹한 기억을 전하고 있습니다.
100년 전 관동대지진 당시 조선인 학살에서 목숨을 건진 할아버지, 홀로 북한으로 떠난 이모, 고마쓰가와 사건의 재일조선인 2세 사형수의 기억. 그 저류에 있는 민족차별이 되살아나는 식민과 전쟁 희생자들의 목소리로 겹겹이 겹쳐 메아리치고 있습니다.
저는 아직도 어둠 속에 묻혀 있는 진실을 찾아 어머니와 함께 여정을 떠나고자 합니다.
[FILMOGRAPHY]
박수남 감독
2016 <침묵> 연출
2012 <누치가후 - 옥쇄장으로부터의 증언> 연출
1991 <아리랑의 노래 - 오키나와에서의 증언> 연출
1985 <또 하나의 히로시마 - 아리랑의 노래> 연출
박마의 감독
2016 <침묵> 프로듀서
2012 <누치가후 - 옥쇄장으로부터의 증언> 조감독
[FESTIVAL/WORLD SALES]
(주)시네마 달
서울특별시 종로구 성균관로5길 11-3(명륜3가), 2층
Tel. 02-337-2135
Fax. 02-325-2137
Email. cinemadal@cinemadal.com
[STILL CUT]
[INFORMATION]
PARK Soo-nam, PARK Maeui | 2023 | Documentary | 141min
[SYNOPSIS]
The director of this film, second-generation Zainichi Korean Park Soo-nam was born in 1935, and she was 10 years old when she faced the fall of the Japanese empire and the liberation of her ancestral homeland in 1945. Her father was a survivor of the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake in Japan- who was saved by the help of his Japanese neighbors in the midst of the Korean massacre. This is her fifth film that presents her work to document historical experiences and the voices of colonial victims, which she has filmed since 1985.
Her journey to document historical testimony starts with Lee Jin-woo, an 18-year-old second-generation Zainichi Korean juvenile executed in 1962 for the murder of a woman. She joined the campaign to protest against the death sentence, and her book "Crime, Death, and Love," a collection of the letters sent back and forth between the director and Lee Jin-woo, became a bestseller in Japan. After the execution of Lee Jin-woo, she started her work to interview the first-generation Zainichi Koreans, in order to protest again the discrimination prevailed in Japan towards the Zainichi Koreans. Her documentary films are made with the historical testimonies by the Korean atomic bomb survivors, Korean civilian workers and "comfort women" who were forcibly taken to Okinawa during the war by the military.
This film is a joint work by the director Park Soo-nam, who now lost her eyesight, and her daughter and co-director Park Maeui. They recovered the deteriorating unreleased film, and started a journey by visiting Nagasaki's Gunkanjima in 2021 for the first time in 30 years - a requiem for the colonial victims.
[DIRECTORS' NOTE]
By Park Soo-nam
In the summer of 1945, at the age of 10, I, who had always regarded the emperor as my god, simultaneously faced the defeat of Japan and the liberation of my ancestral homeland. Between the division of North and South, I started to search for my belonging, and dived deeply into the darkness of the colonial history, which has been remained hidden since the end of the war. My journey to recover the voices of Korean atomic bomb survivors and Korean "comfort women" that have been kept quiet for more than 50 years, has also became a journey in search of my own identity. I have produced four documentaries in the past, but I had the vast amount of footage that was never made into films, so together with my daughter, I made this film, to "reclaim" the deaths of the colonial victims.
By Park Maeui
This project began with the restoration of 100,000 feet of 16mm film shot by my mother. The film is inscribed with the voices of forced laborers by Japanese colonizers, Korean atomic bomb survivors living in Korea and Japan who has been suffering from the aftereffects of the bombing, survivors of the Battle of Okinawa, and the victims of the suppression of the independence movement. As a third-generation Zainichi Korean, just like my mother and grandparents, I had to face the conflict of having my identity torn between my Japanese name and my Korean name. Since my childhood, I witnessed the history of discriminations through my mother's documentary films, and learned the true stories of Korean history, that eventually gave me strength to resist the racism that we face today. I want to bring the victims' voices, back from the old films, and see how their human rights were restored in the post war years. This is a journey, not only to fight against the racism that is still deep-rooted in Japan today, but also to resist the eschewed historical accounts that inclines to hide the traces of violences prevailed during the Japanese imperialism. My mother barely can see now and almost lost her sight, but through her eyes and memories, I was able to see the true history behind these film. Together with my mother, I traced the voices of the history to bring their life back to the present.
[FILMOGRAPHY]
2016 <The Silenced> 117min
2012 <Nuchigafu - Life is a Treasure “Gyokusai” Stories in the Battle of Okinawa> 132min
1991 <Song of Ariran -voices from Okinawa> 100min
1985 <The other HIROSHIMA Korean A-bomb Victims Tell Their Story> 58min
[FESTIVAL/WORLD SALES]
Cinema DAL
(03073) 2F, Sungkyunkwan-ro 5-gil 11-3, Jongno-gu, Seoul, KOREA
Tel. +82-2-337-2135
Fax. +82-2-325-2137
Email. cinemadal@cinemadal.com