“We wanted to remember.” Directors Ju Romi and Kim Taeil reveal their intentions with Raining Dust through this subtitle—so simple and clear it strikes viewers’ hearts. They keep records to remember. The film opens with the words of Taebaek’s last miners: “I had to earn a living.” These are the first words, spoken over the shot of a cage descending endlessly into a mine—the place that the miners of the soon-to-be-closed Jangseong Mining Station call hell. They began working out of poverty, needing to make a living somehow. Though they planned to quit after three days, they ended up staying for over 30 years, and in all that time, they saw nothing good. The film begins with the last remaining miners and leads to the story of the late Seong Wanhee, who set himself on fire, and his fellow workers. And a lament-like question touches the heart again: why were people trapped in extreme poverty driven to such desperate circumstances? Raining Dust is a film made from the heart to record and remember the greatness of labor and laborers. (KANG Sowon)