Encouraged by the welcoming response from our audiences last year, the Hong Kong Arts Centre and the Seoul Independent Film Festival continue to bring you indie films by Korean women filmmakers! The liberal and ambitious spirit of Korean film development has allowed its creators to explore a great variety of stories and styles, and women are taking the stage to express themselves with films that are more widely available on global film distribution and festival circuits, gaining recognition and enriching different cultures.
This year, our selection carries on with telling stories of Korean women of different generations and their life choices – overcoming misfortune and stigmas to bring about new discoveries, enlightenments and connections with the hope of addressing realities that do not only involve women, but everyone – such as women's changing priorities in their role, the phenomenon of holojok (the growing number of people who prefer to be left alone in one-person households), ageism, sexism, labour exploitation, historical tragedies, etc.
Do not miss the chance to chat with our directors at our after-screening talks!
Tickets available HERE
Boundary: Flaming Feminist Action 바운더리
Director: Yun Ga-hyun | South Korea | 2021 | 107' | In Korean with English Subtitles | DCP | Colour
16/7 (Sat) 2:30pm
Best Korean Documentary Award, DMZ International Documentary Film Festival 2021
Spotlight, Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022
Seoul Independent Film Festival 2021
Director will attend virtual after-screening talk.
My existence is more important than your sexual desire
After the Gangnam Station femicide in 2016, director Yun Ga-hyun and her friends' activism switches its focus from labours to women. These friends are Yun, an activist and politician; Kim Se-jung, a public labour attorney; and Mi-hyun, a women and gender studies scholar. They founded a feminist group, Flaming Feminist Action, to address women issues. Their attempts of breaking conventions to provoke people to think about patriarchy and misogyny include shaving their heads, freeing their body hair and nipples, and standing for political election. Four years on, this film is their video diary – passionate, dreadful and soggy – like an impressionable summer.
Yun's second documentary is serious feminist resistance. Peppered with humour and tenderness, it also shines with women camaraderie. The director's first feature documentary The Part-Time Workers' Union participated in various film festivals in South Korea.
Sister J 재춘언니
Director: Lee Soo-jung | South Korea | 2021 | 107' | In Korean with English Subtitles | DCP | Colour
30/7 (Sat) 3:00pm
Moderator: Patrick Suen (Film Critic/Columnist)
Mecenat Award, Wide Angle – Documentary Competition, Busan International Film Festival 2020
SIFF Committee Award, Feature Competition, Seoul Independent Film Festival 2020
Gwangju Independent Film Festival 2020
Jecheon International Music & Film Festival 2021
Director will attend virtual after-screening talk.
To be, or not to be
Affectionately called Sister J by the director, middle-aged Lim Jae-chun was laid off after having worked for a guitar factory for 30 years, then has been spending more than 10 years in a tent as a sit-in while struggling for reinstatement. Sister J is no longer the shy man he used to be, together with his fellow workers and other people who believe in their cause, Sister J acts in theatre, plays guitar, writes and sings to voice their protest. The director captures his transformation through creativity and labour activism.
Lee Soo-jung started her film career as an assistant director to Korean film master Im Kwon-taek. She became the first generation of independent filmmakers in the 1980s. Sister J is her fourth feature documentary and her previous works also entered multiple film festivals.
