I am Kang Sowon, the programmer for the Wide Angle section.
This year, I’ve grouped the Korean and Asian documentaries around a few keywords. Rather than lengthy explanations, I wanted to offer audiences a shortcut to selections that might match their tastes and interests.
So then, my draft for The Kinder Programmer ended up as a memo — a memo that isn’t so kind after all. But this also reflects my belief that the films I’ve long awaited and dreamed of never required much explanation. I hope you will find here a film you, too, have been waiting for and longing for. The words in quotation marks are lines or subtitles taken directly from the features.
The Great Ones, Defined by Their Very Greatness
Raining Dust - JU Romi, KIM Taeil
A heart-felt story, made with heart.
The great film of the working class presented by Ju Romi and Kim Tae-il. “If I wasn’t poor, I couldn’t have survived a single day.”
In the Sea of Strange Thoughts - CHOI Jeongdan
A 21-year record of capturing the intimate life of Kim Uchang,
one of Korea’s most renowned humanities scholars.
"If my father weren’t a scholar, people would have simply called him a freak.”
The Youth
Where We Stay for a While - WANG Mincheol
Four women born in the ’90s gather together in Hwacheon,
looking after thirteen Asiatic black bears. The curiosity grows as the story unfolds. “Would caring for a bear ever become something that is in need?”
Dear Juhee - JANG Juhee, BU Seongpil, KIM Seonghwan
Director Jang Juhee, a survivor of leukemia who broke free from domestic violence, captures the world through her camera while facing all kinds of trials along the way.
“This film is for all Juhees around the world. To the story that gave me strength, to those whose lives are on pause from the fear of moving forward, to those battling solitude, to those whose voices have been silenced by sorrow, and to those who are just simply ordinary beings just like me.”
Baima Boy - YE Bingjun, Summer Xinlei YANG
A teenage boy’s coming-of-age story, at once heart-wrenching,
tearful, and one moment that suddenly brings smile to your face. “Everyone learns how to adapt to a new era. Everyone but me.
I still don’t know how to find my place in this new world.”
The Delicate Taste of Humor
Numakage Public Pool - OTA Shingo
For over fifty years, a public swimming pool has been
a beloved place for residents in the suburbs of Tokyo.
Now facing demolition, it leaves the town’s gay men
deeply troubled as their longtime meeting place is soon to be gone.
“Without the pool, where are we supposed to meet people now? At a gay bar?”
Singing Wings - Hemen KHALEDI
An elderly Kurdish woman, Khadijeh has a spirited and heartwarming project.
She takes care of an injured stork while preventing her daughter from migrating to UK. “Why do you stop me from leaving, Mother, when you want the stork to fly away?”
Must-see Films for the Cinephiles
The Ozu Diaries - Daniel RAIM
“I can make fried tofu, boiled tofu, and stuffed tofu.
Cutlets and other fancy stuff, that’s for other directors.”
“There is no singular language in cinema.”
He always spoke the truth and created the utmost beauty a film could reach.
Ozu Yasujiro X Kurosawa Kiyoshi, Luc Dardenne, Wim Wenders
Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks - WANG Bing
The epic debut feature of Wang Bing,
the master who paved the way for 21st-century Asian documentary films.
An actual film festival is one that proudly embraces a 551-minute length feature,
and true cinephiles are those who treasure the experience of seeing
such a film on the big screen for a lifetime.
Hair, Paper, Water… - Quý TRƯƠNG MINH, Nicolas GRAUX
A beautiful tale, dream-like feature.
The most unique and poetic Asian documentary film of this year.
“Night, fire, water, cave, snail, bee, bat, sun, lightning, river,
mountain, rain, flood, flower, blood, and sleep.......”
Korea and Japan, Far, Yet so Close
Sky, Wind, Stars, and the Island - KIM Myung-yoon
Former Dokdo security officer, Director Kim Myung-yoon, and his Japanese wife,
along with their newborn child, move to Kumi Village on Oki Island in Shimane.
The neighbors are modest and kind-hearted, yet they refer to Dokdo as ‘Takeshima’. “Where are you from, mister?”
“From Earth. We are all people of Earth.”
Ikaino - LEE Wonsik
A lively reminiscence of the life and history of Ikaino,
the Zainichi Korean residential community in Osaka, Japan. “Joseon workers did what the Japanese said could never be done with a sound mind, becoming yakuza or working in pachinko.”
Stranger Than Fiction, Fictional Than a Fiction:
Political Documentary Features
Panic Button - Samara SAGYNBAEVA
The story of director Samara Sagynbaeva and her husband, an investigative journalist who exposes corruption among high-ranking officials and faces death threats in return.
The suffocating moment, with nothing but a panic button in hand.
“Surreal.”
Have you seen the Land of the Red? - HONG Youngah
In the heart of the Right Wing, the Democratic Party of Gyeongbuk province
candidates’ election journey is an electrifying drama that keeps hearts pounding.
“Not only those destined to win choose to run for election.”
I, Poppy - Vivek CHAUDHARY
An activist son fights corrupt officials while his mother tends their poppy farm in India.
“It will be okay, it will be all fine, but when? No one cares about what you say.”
For the Wounded Hearts
Relay Race - KO Hyoju
The painful yet touching story of Kim Dongsoo,
a hero of the Sewol Ferry Tragedy, and his family.
“I saw it all with my own eyes. How am I supposed to live with these memories?”
Grounding - MA Minji
The artists, having faced individual struggles after #MeToo in their respective fields
within the Korean art scene, form the Sang-yeoja’s Grounding Tactics (SGT).
“Even in the midst of unease, moments come that make me feel life can still be fun.
Live on, just live on.”
Films, Filmmakers, and Theaters
Habibi Hussein - Alex BAKRI
The film follows the story of Hussein Darby,
the last projectionist of Cinema Jenin in Palestine.
“I have a dream.”
Mr. Kim Goes to the Cinema - KIM Dong-ho
Kim Dong-ho, former chairperson of the Busan International Film Festival,
who once roamed film festivals all around the world,
now takes up his camera and heads to the cinema once again.
Kim Dong-ho X Kore-eda Hirokazu, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Yukisada Isao,
Fukada Koji, Eric Khoo, Johnnie To, Luc Besson, Mohsen Makhmalabaf, Chui Mui Tan,
Tsai Ming-Liang, Kuei-Mei Yang, Brillante Mendoza, Shin Young-kyun, Moon Hee, Moon So-ri, Jang Joonhwan, Chung Jiyoung, Lee Chang-dong, Park Chan-wook, Im Kwon-taek.
A Time for Music and Performance
The Rose: Come Back to Me - Eugene YI
From busking on the streets of Hongdae to performing at Coachella,
this is the coming-of-age story of ‘The Rose’.
Fresh off their world tour, ‘The Rose’ is set to soar once again in Busan.
10s Across the Borders - CHAN Sze-Wei
The trailblazers of Southeast Asia’s underground ballroom scene
take their journey to New York—an LGBTQ documentary feature.
