The Narrow Margin: Revisiting the 1980s Korean Film Collectives
Two short films produced by the collective will be screened before the lecture: Water Utilisation Tax and Bluebird.
This year’s Documentary strand follows on from the 2018 LKFF ‘Documentary Fortnight’ in focusing on exemplary independent works based around the themes of social justice and resistance. The movement of independent filmmaking in South Korea has its origin in the film collectives and university cine-clubs mostly found in the 1980s. In this associated event, renowned film critic Yoo Un-seong will revisit the wider activities of the 1980s Korean film collectives, before delving into a more in-depth discussion, presenting the Seoul Film Collective as a particular case study.
Yoo Un-seong is a Korean film critic and co-publisher of Okulo, a journal of cinema and the moving image. He worked as a programmer of the Jeonju International Film Festival (2004~2012) and the program director of the Moonji Cultural Institute SAII (2012~2014). In 2018, he published Ghost And The Guards, a collection of essays on cinema, art and literature. He co-edited the books Pedro Costa (2010), Roberto Rossellini (2004) and Carl Dreyer (2003), among others.
Birkbeck Cinema, 09 Nov 2019 1:30 pm
Featured films - Water Utilisation Tax 수리세
Water Utilisation Tax reconstructs the four-month struggle of the farmers of the Gurye county area over their demand to pay water taxes with the products of their labour. The film analyses in detail the economic conditions affecting the farmers' activity, exposing how they organised their response and struggle. It uses newspaper clippings, still images of the original events and reenactment sequences played by the farmers themselves, as well as a soundtrack of interviews, traditional songs and voice-over narration. The film reflects the critical concerns of the group, and is related to their interest in Third Cinema (the agitational and theoretical filmic practice of the Bolivian Grupo Ukamau is referred to as a model).
Director: Hong Ki-seon
Cert 12, 32 mins, 1984
Featured films - Bluebird 파랑새
Bluebird , was born from conversations with the farmers about their life and miserable working conditions and is based on a real story. The film addresses the demise of rural activity and livelihood caused by the liberalisation of the agricultural import market. It was shown and discussed with the farmers all over the country, creating an incident with the censorship board that led to the arrest of members of the group. The films made by this remarkable collective offered a blueprint for an independent cinema to emerge, deeply engaged with people's lives and concerns.
Director: Hong Ki-seon Director: Yi Hyo-in Director: Lee Jung-ha
Cert 12, 38 mins, 1986
