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- Shorts Make Korean Films What They Are Today ②
- by SONG Soon-jin (Film Journalist) / May 07, 2015
- On February 7th, a film was brought into the spotlight at the 37th Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, a major short film festival in France. The work was none other than Minsu Kim in Wonderland directed by SHIM Chan-yang. The film which scooped up the Special Jury Prize satirizes Korean society through a hero who returns home after 13 years, and finds his motherland, Korea to be strange, frightening and weird. Director SHIM accepted major prizes at various film festivals in Korea through Sorry to Say I Love You in 2011 and An Unexpected Vacation in 2013.
Invited together with Minsu Kim in Wonderland was Hosanna. NA Young-kil, the director of Hosanna, has also had a long career in the short film world. After working as a staff member for Dream (2004), Sensation's Tentacle (2007), The Strange Voyage (2008) and Worst Friends (2009), NA debuted as a director through Hosanna. The film tells a story about a boy with a special power to cure ill or injured villagers and to resuscitate the dead and villagers who still suffer due to worldly greed. Hosanna was invited to the Clermont- Ferrand International Short Film Festival and took the Golden Bear Prize at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival thanks to a strong reception for its theme and method of expression about life, death and redemption. The Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival already invited and awarded the Grand Prize to Guest, a film by YOON Ga-eun in 2012. Its plot unfolds as an adolescent girl in her stormy period forces her way into the home of a woman who attracted her father. Sprout (2013) later allowed director YOON to amass prizes at various film festivals including the Busan International Film Festival. In Sprout, director YOON compares the first errand of a seven-yearold girl to a journey. The film took home the Crystal Bear Prize in Generation Kplus (Short Film section) at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival.
In addition to Hosanna and Sprout, various other Korean short films have attracted attention from the Berlin International Film Festival. In 2013, the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival Generation Kplus International Jury gave the Special Prize to Cheong, a KIM Jung-in film. The world-famous PARK Chan-wook and PARK Chan-kyong brothers accepted the Golden Bear Prize in the short film section of the 61st Berlin International Film Festival in recognition of Night Fishing in 2011. The same year, the Silver Bear Prize went to Broken Night directed by YANG Hyo-joo. Haegeumni, a SEONG Joon-su animation, took the ‘Diplomas of Merit’ in the International Competition of the Tampere Film Festival in Finland which is one of the world’s top three short film festivals along with the Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival. Now, SEONG is continuing his career as an animator after having participated in The Satellite Girl and Milk Cow directed by JANG Hyung-yun, which picked up the Best Animation Prize at the SITGES -- International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia.
The Venice International Film Festival has also invited Korean shorts from time to time. In 1999, The Refrigerator directed by AHN Young-seok advanced into the festival’s International Short Film Competition.
The film, in which a refrigerator, instead of money, is taken from the house of a conman and makes the swindled family members reunite, made headlines by entering the International Competition of the Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival and Cinema Jove International Film Festival in Spain. HA Ki-ho, the director of Radio Days (2007), first got attention from Venice through To My Love (2000). HA is now preparing Geuk-jeokin Ha-loot-bam (working title), a romantic comedy starring YOON Kye-sang of The Moonlight Of Seoul (2008) and Poongsan (2011), and HAN Ye-ri of Haemoo.
ZHANG Lu, the director of Gyeong-ju and Scenery (2013), originally made it to the Short Film Competition of the Venice Film Festival with 11 (2001). Baby earned director YIM Pil-sung, who later made Scarlet Innocence, a ticket to Venice in 1999.
Recently, Venice gave the Orizzonti Youtube Award for Best Short film to Invitation (2012) directed by YOO Min-young. The film tells the story of a wife who finds out that her husband killed in a car crash had a secret lover. Rave reviews were given to the film since it excellently depicted the psychology of the wife who feels betrayed and is in deep anguish.
Major international film festivals including the Busan and Jeonju International Film Festivals held in Korea are very interested in discovering new short films. They have deemed that supporting short films is like discovering and nurturing new filmmakers. The Jeonju International Film Festival, which has supported short films for a long time through the Short! Short! Short! and Jeonju Digital Projects (which is now a feature film project), has cemented itself as a strong supporter of the Korean short film world.
Moreover, ten short film festivals discover and give support to new short films and directors every year. The Mise-en-scene Short Film Festival, the Asiana International Short Film Festival, the Great Short Film Festival, the Olleh International Smartphone Film Festival and the DMC Short Film Festival are representative short film festivals sponsored by big corporations. Local short film festivals such as the Busan International Short Film Festival and the Daegu Short Film Festival, which began in 1980 and 2000, respectively, have been held every year as fun and highly engaged events. The Seoul International Extreme-Short Image & Film Festival and the SNS 3Minute Film Festival appeal to youngsters while getting across to them that everybody is able to make short films with digital devices.
However, it is the Mise-en-scene Short Film Festival that stands out from its peers. The festival, which began in 2002, caught the eyes of film students with a concept of hiring active directors as judges. Love'b, a music video collection directed by actor JUNG Woo-sung, was screened as the opening film of the first festival and made headlines. The media turned their eyes to the festival since popular and famous directors such as BONG Joon-ho, KIM Jee-woon, HUR Jin-ho, PARK Chan-wook and RYOO Seung-wan served as judges.
They made new attempts such as putting an emphasis on genres through interesting sections -- ‘A City of Sadness (social dramas)’, ‘A Short Film about Love (melodramas)’, ‘The King of Comedy (comedies)’, ‘Extreme Nightmare (horror and fantasies)’ and ‘The 40000 Blows (action thrillers)’. These new attempts made the Mise-en-scene Short Film Festival reign as the leading short film festival in Korea. The Mise-en-scene Short Film Festival paved the way for prizewinning directors to make an active foray into commercial films.
The best examples are NA Hong-jin, KIM Han-min and YOON Jong-bin. A Perfect Red Snapper Dish (2005) earned director NA Hong-jin the Best Film Prize in the ‘Extreme Nightmare’ section of the 4th Mise-en-scene Short Film Festival. Then NA made the short film Sweat (2007) and swept various film awards by way of his features The Chaser (2008) and The Yellow Sea (2010). At the moment, NA is preparing for the release of Gokseong starring HWANG Jung-min and KWAK Do-won. Director KIM Han-min also won the Special Prize of the Jury for Three Hungry Brothers (2003) at the 2nd Mise-en-scene Short Film Festival. Later, War of the Arrows (2011) and Roaring Currents launched KIM to fame as one of the most commercially successful action blockbusters in Korea. During the third festival, the Best Film Prize of ‘The King of Comedy’ went to Identification of a Man (2004) directed by YOON Jong-bin who later debuted through The Unforgiven (2005). Director YOON has kept on rolling in the commercial film sector while making Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time (2011) and KUNDO: Age of the Rampant. LEE Kyoung-mi, the director of Feel Good Story (2004), which took the Best Film Prize in ‘A City of Sadness’ at the third festival, received good responses through her feature Crush And Blush (2008). This year, LEE will come out with the mystery thriller Home Sweet Home starring SON Ye-jin and KIM Joo-hyuk as her second feature film. The Mise-enscene Short Film Festival also helped nurture PARK In-jae, the director of Moby Dick (2011) starring HWANG Jung-min, and KIM Min-suk, the director of Haunters (2010) starring GANG Dong-won and KO Soo.
Directors JANG Kun-jae, PARK Jung-bum and LEE Su-jin also grew up through the Mise-enscene Short Film Festival. It was the first festival to pay attention to Triangle Stories directed by JANG Kun-jae, who later drew a lot of attention from the Vancouver and Edinburgh International Film Festivals among others, through Eighteen (2010), Sleepless Night (2012) and A Midsummer's Fantasia. PARK Jung-bum, the director of 125 JEON Seung-Chul, the winner of the Special Prize of the Jury at the 7th festival built his international fame through The Journals of Musan (2010) and Alive. Director LEE Su-jin, who recently won the Golden Star (Grand Prize) of the Marrakech International Film Festival (2013) for Han Gong-ju, took home the Best Film Prize and the Best Cinematography Prize from ‘A City of Sadness’ in recognition of Enemy’s Apple (2007) in the festival’s 7th edition. These works were sent not only to the Mise-en-scene Short Film Festival but also to many short film festivals in Korea and international film festivals.
Many directors are growing into leading Korean filmmakers through short films and are drawing much attention. The short film Richard, the Elite University Student from London (2010) laid the foundation for 10 Minutes (2013), a LEE Yong-seung film which picked up Cyclo d'Or at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema. Director HUH Jung, who received rave reviews for The Cursed (2010) and The Wish (2012), made his debut through Hide and Seek in 2013. HUH is growing into a leading director, receiving much support from critics.
Director UM Tae-hwa, who won prizes at the Daegu Short Film Festival and the Mise-enscene Short Film Festival for the short film Forest (2012), opened up a new horizon with INGtoogi: The Battle of Internet Trolls (2013), which depicts youths in the internet era. The short films Film (2010) and Keep Quiet (2010) earned prizes at various short film festivals for director HONG Seok-jae, who received attention from the Busan International Film Festival in recognition of Socialphobia.
In addition, JANG Jae-hyun, HAN Jun-hee and KIM Jun-sung are directors that Korean cinema has high expectations for. JANG Jae-hyun is waiting for his debut with The Priests, an exorcism film based on 12th Assistant Deacon which won prizes from the Jeonju International Film Festival, the Mise-en-scene Short Film Festival, the Asiana International Short Film Festival and the Daegu Short Film Festival. The Priests is making headlines thanks to the participation of top stars KIM Yun-seok and GANG Dong-won although its theme is a new one in Korea and the film comes from a debut director. HAN Jun-hee, who won prizes at the World Youth Film Festival and the Daejeon Short Film Festival, made an impressive debut with Coin Locker Girl, a crime film starring KIM Hye-soo and KIM Go-eun which was invited to the Cannes Film Festival. Director KIM Jun-sung also amassed prizes at various short film festivals through Last Homecoming (2010) and A Good Day (2012). KIM is currently making his feature film debut with Lucid Dream, a thriller starring SUL Kyung-gu and KO Soo.
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