After Breaking the Silence

‘Gipeusil’ is the name of a place in Yeongju-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, where three townships — those of Pyeongeun, Munsu and Isan — come together. This beautiful town alongside the river Naeseongcheon is planned to be submerged under water due to the construction of a dam, a local project in connection with the Four Major Rivers Project, which began in 2009. The director began documenting the changes taking place in Gipeusil, a place where her grandmother lived, while trying to grasp the memories of the neighboring people who wish to hold on to their home, but are to be relocated nonetheless.

In 2011, social network and the Hope Bus initiated a new movement which fractured the firm and unilateral media while demanding the arrogant political and financial circles to be awakened. They jumped over the high fences of Hanjin HIC using their mobile phones and ladders and finally embraced the moment when the rally became a festival. The Hope Bus slowly evolved to become a great big carnival that invited anyone and everyone to join in.

Jae-nyun and Woo-young both suffer from brain lesions and have been dating for eight years. Now they face the next step in their life: marriage. They are no different from ordinary couples in Korea when marriage is concerned. Woo-young is forty years old. Ever since his father died, he could no longer delay his marriage with Jae-nyun and openly proposes to her several times. On the other hand, Jae-nyun, who was happy with Woo-young's first marriage proposal, experiences difficulty in giving a definite answer to Woo-young. She is worried about married life. To make matters worse, her future mother-in-law makes an interview of how she accepts Jae-nyun as her daughter-in-law, which suffocates Jae-nyun even more with the patriarchal custom the marriage system hides beneath the surface.

On April 26, 2017, THAAD was deployed in Soseongri, accompanied by the military boots of the Korean police and the sneers of American soldiers, destroying the peaceful daily lives of those who live here. THAAD, meant to stop wars, turns Soseongri into a battlefield. The people in Soseongri lie down on the asphalt road again to protect their lives.

This is a film about workers, a film about the poor who were dragged out of homes and about his father. Director Park films his father who has lived as a laborer all his life, his weakened body, and nine years of time flowing over it. Park brings an impartial view of his father’s life. His father does not try to impart a particular value in front of the camera. What remains is to wonder where this cruel reality comes from.

Gukdo Art Cinema located in Daeyeon-dong, Busan is one of the most representative cinema in Busan for independent films and arthouse films along with Cinematheque Busan (currently moved to Busan Cinema Center) and Art Theater C+C. Gukdo opened in 2004 in Nampo-dong and moved to Daeyeon-dong in 2008 and has been a home for cinephiles in Busan and nearby areas for the last 10 years. The theater closed its operations on January 31st, 2018 after the building owner had refused to renew its contract. The last month of the theater is recorded in the movie Last Scene.

I live in Miryang, the town of sunlight. I settled here 10 years ago because it was getting harder for me to live with all the farm work and this was a perfect place to take a rest with its clean air and water. Not only me. One of my neighbors came here to recover from bad health, too. However, my life nowadays became so sad and bitter. Transmission towers, called 765 something, are said to be built in the neighborhood, and it is making so much trouble. Last year, an old man who lived in another town not far from here, killed himself because of it. And I, trying to stop the construction people cutting down trees, was dragged around by young men far below my age, getting insulted with harsh words I'd never heard before. I still have the scars from being beaten by them back then. People say that 64 transmission towers are going to be seated in Miryang. It's been 8 years since I started the fight against it. 8 years!