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A woman says: “I am here, in the room.” A man says: “I am here, in her room.”

What would he be doing, in her room? Does he even exist in her room? JEONG Da-hee contemplates on the nature of being and loss. The metaphysical subject matter is put into images, which makes the film’s nine and a half minute running time seem infinite. The Empty had the honor of winning the first prize at International Animation Festival Hiroshima in August, over several acclaimed other candidates. 

Supported by Korean Film Council, the film has been sold to the French Canal Plus and Channel Plus, as well as African and Spanish TV stations. It has even been in the pre-selection for the Academy Awards next year in the short animation category. JEONG is the first Korean artist to breakthrough to receive this distinction. 

I was rather calm when I received the prize for Man on the Chair, but it felt totally different this time. The Empty was co-produced with France and there were so many things to discuss, including a lot of extra work that fell outside of the actual filmmaking. The whole thing was such a difficult task. I also had a lot of pressure because Man on the Chair was far too successful. Now The Empty has finally been finished and released, which made me really happy. This time at Hiroshima there were so many great works by legendary directors that I revere, like Georges Schwizgebel and YAMAMURA Koji in the competition section and yet I got the prize! It was a total shock. 

The two employed very different production methods. Man on the Chair was mostly funded by the CJ Culture Foundation, and the entire production was done in Korea. However, for The Empty, I had to go back and forth between the two countries, because it was funded by many parties in France including CNC, Canal Plus, and through a regional residency in Strasbourg. Communication was hard, and it was a lot more work for me as I had to be the producer and director at the same time. 

When you work on an animated film, you very often spend time on your own in a room. I have already made three animations where the setting is in a room. The Black Room (2011), which I made when I was studying in Paris, Man on the Chair and The Empty are three different stories about an empty room. Now that I think of it, while I was working on them, I guess I had a lot of thoughts that you can see and also those that you only have in your mind. My first world was a room, and it is where I stay the most as well. Somebody leaves the room, somebody disappears, but the memory of the room still remains. It is covered with dust and you have no idea how long it has been there. The Empty began with this kind of imagination. It is just a room and objective time, but in there, there is infinite time and infinite space…. (laughs) 

To be honest with you, I don't know much about actors. When I was making Man on the Chair, SEO Young-hwa did the narration, which was arranged by director JO Seung-yeon, my colleague. This time also he recommended YOO for me. I didn't think it would be possible, but YOO said yes. When we were recording, YOO's voice sounded like a ghost floating around in the room. I was hoping for a warm and friendly tone, but then I realized I liked the cold, ghost-like tone better. So I changed the idea a little bit and inserted the scene where the picture frame breaks.  

Man on the Chair also has a version where the entire narration is in my voice. I screened it at first but as the voice tone was the same the whole time, it didn't work. So I recruited professional actors. But The Empty has only two lines with a woman's voice, so I thought I'd just do it myself, rather than recruiting somebody. (laughs) 

At college, there were animation classes as part of a design curriculum. I saw Tango by Zbigniew Rybczynski and I found that the narrative style was very impressive, unlike any animation that I had seen on TV or in theaters. I became interested in short animations as I got acquainted with Russian experimental works. After I graduated from college I went to a PR company where they produced animated commercials. I realized I wanted to tell my own stories and study more, so I decided to go to Paris. 

It’s a habit that I picked up when I was studying in France. Animation takes a long time to complete, so it becomes quite exhausting, after which you may think that you don't want to do it ever again. Making an animation is like a marathon. I thought I'd keep myself healthy so I could work regularly. That also expedited my job. Like a regular worker, I start to work at 10 a.m. and come home at 7 p.m. But when I am not done and go home, I am impatient to see the next part, so I want to get back to work as fast as I can. 

Yes, to be honest with you that is my story. I used to be a kid with a lot of thoughts. Where have we come from? Where am I? What does it mean when you say the earth is floating in the universe? I don't see myself. Do I really even exist? and so on. I had these thoughts from when I was very young such as in first or second grade in the elementary school, but other than that, I was not very different from other kids. But these questions sometimes scared me.  

Yes, but it’s definitely what I want to do. There are many animators who made great works when they were young but as they grew older, they became less alert and couldn’t receive any more funding. It can certainly happen to me as well. If you know you may become unable to do this job, then wouldn't you have to do it now? Dutch animator Michael Dudok de Wit once said: “Everyday life is a continuity of uncertainty, and I want to put it on the screen.” I guess that is the life of an animator. Independent animation is not an easy genre in any country in the world.    

Which directors do you like the best? 

I'd say Michel Lemieux and Georges Schwizgebel. Michel Lemieux became one of my favorites when I saw Here and the Great Elsewhere (2012). I love directors whose work concerns overarching issues such as life and death and the human condition. I also like his style where he works on his animations for several years by himself like he was on some kind of self-mortification. Schwizgebel has his own narrative style and uses incredible animation techniques as well. He is still active at an old age, which is amazing. I sincerely admire him. 

I am also interested in feature-length animations but my work has not yet reached feature-length status. Korean animation history is still short, and I want to work at it even when I am very old. I would love to remain an artist, a creator, until the last minute, never exhausted.