For her first feature-length documentary, director Nam A-rum, who is pursuing a master’s degree in documentary at the Korea National University of Arts, came up with a very ambitious film which aims at combining the family drama with the political and historical documentary, through a rather intimate perspective. Let us see how she fared.
K-Family Affairs is screening at Taiwan International Documentary Film Festival
A-rum’s parents were part of the 386 generation, whose political activism led to the June 1987 major protests that forced the authoritarian government to hold universal suffrage elections and implement key democratic reforms. Following the radical changes the ‘movement’ forced, the two of them, eager to pass a better world to the new generation, decided to become a public servant (her father) and a feminist activist (her mother), with the former ending up working for the government and the latter for a women’s emergency call center.
As time passed, however, their perspectives and aspirations diverged sharply. A-rum found herself caught in the middle, deeply influenced by her mother’s feminist ideals and eager to follow in her parents’ footsteps. She yearned to join protests following the Sewol incident and the exposure of a college professor’s misconduct, inspired by her parents’ activism. However, she faced a profound dilemma due to her father’s position in the government, which rendered her unable to participate.
The tragic Sewol incident, claiming over 300 lives, predominantly high school students, underscored the government’s mishandling, implicating then-President Park Geun-hye. A-rum’s father, involved in managing the aftermath, forced her to reassess the efficacy of her parents’ activism in advancing democracy and her father’s role during that tumultuous period. The following presidential impeachment, the #MeToo movement, and the 2022 presidential election, amplified her dilemmas and also had her questioning the role her generation can (shall/will) play in the shaping of the sociopolitical setting of the country.
At the same time, and although she questions the actions and decisions of her parents, she still realizes that a number of things they did they did for her, with the love the members of the family feel for each other, even within a relationship involving much criticism from one another, being the glue that holds them together. Truth is however, that although somewhat cruel, having her two parents together talking about their overall decisions and political stance would definitely be quite interesting, shedding even more light to their relationship.
In terms of cinematic approach, the combination of home-video style footage, interviews with her parents, and historical reels from the events during her parents’ youth and the juxtaposition with the similar ones of her time, emerges as excellent. In that fashion, KIMSAN’s editing emerges as one of the best aspects of the documentary, with the way the different elements of the film are combined being quite intricate. Some delaying does exist here and there, while some of the scenes do look a bit too artistic or too amateur on occasion, but as a whole, the movie definitely works.
Nam A-rum skillfully intertwines family dynamics with political history, prompting reflection on generational activism. Amidst her parents’ divergent paths, the director grapples with societal turmoil, ultimately revealing the complexities of familial love and political conviction. As such, “K-Family Affairs” resonates as a poignant exploration of personal and national identity.
