Docs Port Re:port Contents 2 About Docs Port Re:port 3 Korean Projects 2014 - 2016 56 Asian Projects 2014 - 2016 85 Facts & Figures 89 Index of Films 90 Index of Directors & Producers 92 Acknowledgements
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About Docs Port Re:port
Docs Port Incheon started in 2013 as ‘Docu-
mentary Pitching Forum’, open for Korean projects only. It has expanded its scope as the Asian documentary project market since 2014. It has selected 79 projects from 25 Asian countries until this year and introduced them to those from domestic and international TV and film industry concerning documentary.
Docs Port Re:port is the booklet of all those
projects that we’ve proudly presented for past three years. Some are completed and some are in the process. This booklet will show the flow of current Asian documentaries, and will give you the joy of finding authentic and original works in the time of overflowing reality shows and factual programs.
The finalists are always chosen fairly by the
most experienced professionals who are filled with the love for documentaries. Please, keep your interest in the projects and Docs Port Inchoen, the friend of Asian documentaries. 5
DOCS PORT INCHEON KOREAN PROJECTS 2014 - 2016 6
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ARMY: 600,000 Portraits Army is made of images
Director Kelvin Kyung Kun PARK
Genres Media Art Documentary
Status(release) In production(2017)
Production KYUNG PICTURES
Language Korean
Length 1 x 70min
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
ARMY: 600,000 Portraits shows the image of Korean army. As all men are required to finish military service in Korea, it is, in other words, a group portrait of Korean men. This group portrait is painted from the individual and subjective eye of the director. It starts with the story of his father, a Vietnam War veteran, and shows a young boy as he overcomes the turbulent life of a new recruit and grows to be a man adapting into the army and stepping into a higher rank. It also shows the fancy yet restrained movements of honor guards as if they show what loyalty means, the images of tanks and weapons demonstrating the ultimate machine aesthetics, heartbreaking love letters, and the ideal military image with its camera. It further catches, on the other hand, with an intimate and sensitive attitude, the strange nostalgia that ties Korean men together generating from the memories of the smell of wet military uniforms, frozen eyes, and thousands of shaved heads. Director’s Bio
PARK is a media artist living in Seoul. His works covering films, photos, and video installations have been introduced and exhibited in numerous film festivals and art galleries including Busan, Berlin, Los Angeles, Toronto International Film Festival and the Museum of Modern Art New York, Ilmin Museum of Art, Daegu Art Museum, Arko Art Center, and Taipei Biennale. His latest film A Dream of Iron won NETPAC award from BERLINALE in 2014.
Contact
Kelvin Kyung Kun PARK +82 10 4466 4152 kinemasta@gmail.com
2014 K-PITCH
History
Leeum Samsung Museum of Art 2016 / IDFA - Roundtable Pitching 2015 Doc Spirit Award, Docs Port Incheon 2014 / BIFF - AND Fund 2014 7
Ashes to Ashes Mr. Kang, who offers free funeral services for those who die alone without family in Republic of Korea, against solitary death.
Director Sang-hoon SHIN
Genres Human, Socio·political
Status(release) Completed
Producer Woo-young CHOI
Language Korean
Length 1 x 79min
Production BODA Media Group
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
In the metropolis of Daegu, one man, Mr. Kang, offers free funeral services for those with no nextof kin. He was diagnosed with late-stage cancer of the bladder in 1995. On the operation table, Mr. Kang vowed to devote his life to the service of others. After his recovery, Kang contacted all the district offices in Daegu stating that he started a non-for profit service project that offers free transportation, cremation, and a one-day funeral. However, things don‘t progress so smoothly. Mr. Kang should accompany a related district officer from the funeral house to crematorium and get an official letter from city hall on every step of the way. After this system comes into action, he should wait the public officer’s permission. As the official letter moves around between city and district office, he corpses start decaying in each fridge and Mr. Kang can’t pick up the bodies for two or three months. In this film, we can see the death itself, and give a unique view point what will be happened after we die. Director’s Bio
Sang-hoon SHIN studied video in a university. After he worked as assistant director in a documentary team, With or without You, he really got an interest in making documentary film. In 2013, his debut project, Ashes to Ashes, was selected in the first filmmakers project, “DISCOVER NEW TALENTS, TOMORROW IS YOU,” and supported by NGC Korea and KOCCA. History
Screened at BIFF 2015 / Pitched at ASD 2014
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Contact
Woo-young CHOI +82 10 9307 5344 50cwy@daum.net
2014 K-PITCH 2015 Rough Cut Sales
Bamseom Pirates Seoul Inferno “All Hail to Kim Jong-il!" Bamseom Pirates, Seoul Inferno is a film about Korean punk duo who challenge to the establishment and their passion for music.
Director Yoon-suk JUNG
Genres Socio·Political, Music
Status(release) Post-Production(2016)
Producer Sona JO
Language Korean
Length 1 x 120min
Production OPOT Pictures
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD
Synopsis
Comprised of bassist Sung-geon JANG(aged 29) and drummer Yong-man KWON(aged 31), a grind core duo band, Bamseom Pirates, garnered great attention early on with shocking and witty lyrics like, “All hail to Kim Jong-il” and “I like the commie”, earning them fame as the most controversial band in the Korean music scene. Since then, the band have expanded their musical horizons, addressing issues that abound in South Korean society including anti-communist sentiment and labor rights by participating in concerts held in protest against the Korea–US Free Trade Agreement, the construction of a naval base on Jeju Island and the 3/11 Fukushina Daiichi nuclear disaster. However, in 2012, when their good friend and producer, Park Jung-geun, is arrested for violating the National Security Laws after re-tweeting messages from the North Korean account “Uriminzok”, the Bamseom Pirates face the first and biggest crisis of their musical career. Director’s Bio
Born in 1981 in Seoul, South Korea, Jung has a BFA in Visual Arts Studies and a MFA in Documentary Filmmaking from the Korea National University of Arts. As an artist and a filmmaker, he has been continuously asking critical questions about the public nature of the state and society through the form of art and documentary. His artistic projects and short films were exhibited at the Vancouver Film Festival in 2010 and the Gwangju Biennale in 2012. His first feature, NonFiction Diary, which deals with Korea’s first serial murder case in the 1990s, was selected for the Sheffield Doc/Fest in 2014 and won various international awards including the BIFF Mecenat Award for the best Korean documentary at the BIFF (2013), the Official Noves Visions Best Feature Length Non-Fiction Film at SITGES – International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia (2014) and the BERLINALE NETPAC Award (2014).
Contact
Sona JO +82 10 5608 7273 sona0327@gmail.com
2016 Rough Cut Sales
History
Supported by CJ Culture Foundation / DMZ Docs / KOFIC / Seoul Film Commission 9
Becoming Who I Was A Ladakhi boy of noble birth must go in search of his previous life in Tibet, with the sacrifice of his aging godfather.
Director Chang-yong MOON
Genres Human, Socio·political
Status(release) Post-Production(80%)
Producer Jin JEON
Language Korean, Ladakh, Hindi
Length 1 x 85min, 1 x 52min
Production Prosum
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
A seemingly ordinary boy discovers he is the highest ranking Tibetan monk reincarnated from a past, giving him the noble title of Rinpoche. Displaced in his reincarnation in Ladakh due to the political instability in Tibet, he is separated from his former monastery. Filmed over 8 years, the young reincarnate faces questions of survival, coming-of-age, and serving a sacred order. With one aging godfather on the backdrop of the biting Himalayan Mountains, the Rinpoche sets on a journey to find his place in the world. Director’s Bio
Chang-Yong is an award-winning director and cinematographer who has been creating documentaries for South Korea’s major broadcasters since 1998. His accolades include ‘Extreme Job’ which won the EBS Prize for Excellence in 2009; three part documentary series Steel Route: The History of Civilization awarded KIPA Best Documentary Award Grand Prize (2011); four part documentary series titled Unfinished War: Disputed Maritime Border of the Yellow Sea awarded KCTTA Work of Art Prize (2012); and 1 Hectare of Happiness documentary which was awarded KBS Prize for Excellence in 2013. History
Main pitch (Politics & Society) at SSD 2014 DMZ Docs 2014 Korean Pitching Day at IDFA 2014
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Contact
Jin JEON +82 10 5676 1916 jin@prosum.co.kr
2015 K-PITCH 2016 Rough Cut Sales
Black Monument Art is hijacked by Politics!
Director One-joon CHE
Genres Socio·political, Art&Culture
Status(release) Post-Production (12/2016)
Producer Si-nae HA
Language English, Korean, French
Length 1 x 52min, 1 x 80min
Production BODA Media Group
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
Black Monument will life the curtain North Korean art business in mainly three different African countries; Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Senegal. North Korea started building statues and monuments to African countries as free gift in 1970s, and it slowly changed to a big business to earn money since 2000. However, their secret bids never open to public, and the artworks have been used to maintain dictators’ power. In this film, we’d like to see why North Korea is in Africa and how it affects on African local people with economical, religious, and artistic reason. Director’s Bio
CHE One-joon was born in Seoul. He becomes one of the most acclaimed young visual artists by actively working and exhibiting around the world. His art works including photograph, video and movie, from 2001 to the present, deal with specific places of Korean society, which densely interconnect social and political matters containing taboo issues. He won the prestigious Ilwoo documentary photography award(2010), and was nominated at the 11th Hermes Korea Art Prize(2011). In 2012, he was appointed as a laureate of the artistic creation subsidy program of the Musée du Quai Branly 2012 in Paris, with the photography project A Monumental Tour. As an artist and photographer, Black Monument will be his debut feature documentary.
Contact
Si-nae HA +82 10 6282 6995 lilyyapd@gmail.com One-joon CHE +82 10 9493 6676 cheonejoon@gmail.com
2015 A-PITCH
History
Korean Pitching Day at IDFA 2015 New Museum(Newyork, USA), Musée du Quai Branly(French) 11
Breath of the Antarctic The persons to draw one millimeter on the length of one meter, faintly beautiful breath made by the Antarctic and scientists.
Director Ji-woo JUNG, Un-yeong CHEON Genres Human Interest
Status(release) In Production (2017)
Producer Dae-hyun KIM
Language Korean
Length 1 x 110min, 1 x 50min
Production JUNG JI WOO Film
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
The summer of Seoul in August, 2013. The practical tests and interviews to select the scientists and engineers for the Over-winter party in King Sejong Station are ongoing. There are a lot of exploration and tension between the judges including even a psychoanalyst and the applicants expressing a determination. Eighteen scientists and engineers who pass the test including physical one. They are heading to King Sejong Station with the summer research party. The summer of the Antarctic in December, 2013. The medical scientist who is dissecting a penguin's body to find the parasites, the microphycologist who has put his feet into water all day long to search for new kinds of crustacean, the ecologist who count the number of plants carrying a quadrate and a tapeline, marine biologist who become a diver to collect verrucella stellata. The scientists who are so sincere to look stupid keeps doing their researches. December, 2014, when the summer comes back... Director’s Bio
From A Bit Bitter, JUNG Ji Woo has continued his career as a film director. He has directed several films including Happy End(1999), Blossom Again(2005), Modern Boy(2008) and Eungyo(2012). CHEON Un-yeong, Novelist. She started her career with short story ʳThe Needleʴ(2001). She has published collections of short story, ʳMyeongrangʴ(2004), ʳHer Teartechniqueʴ(2008), ʳAs The Mother Knowsʴ(2013) and fulllength novels, ʳAdieu le cirque!ʴ(2005), ʳGingerʴ(2011). 12
Contact
Dae-hyun KIM +82 10 3411 1895 indeline@gmail.com
2014 K-PITCH
Breathing Underwater A story of haenyeos (women of the sea) who have to hold their breath to survive and of mulsum (breathing underwater), that represents a desire and temptation that could not be contained.
Director Hee-young KO
Genres Cultural & Human
Status(release) Completed
Producer Gary Byung-seok Kam
Language Korean (English Narr.)
Length 1 x 82min
Production STUDIO Soom:Be
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
In Jeju Province, located off the southern coast of Korea, are the women of the sea who hold breath of life. Typhoons and the barren volcanic soil of the islands left the people enduring years of poor harvest and famine. For survival, women looked to the frigid sea. Haenyeos, women of the sea, still exist and they have been diving without air tanks for more than 200 years. They go into the waters of 10-to-20 meter depth to harvest seaweed and shellfish to make a living. They work from 7 to 8 hours a day without even a sip of fresh water. Every year, there are deaths due to mulsumor breathing underwater, refers to the water haenyeos drink when they run out of their own breath. It is the result of a failed attempt to push one’s limit. It represents a desire and temptation that could not be contained. Life, for these women of the sea, is about holding one’s breath, and containing and controlling one’s desire. Director’s Bio
Started out as a writer for TV industry in 1992 and became a documentary director in 2002, Produced more than 100 documentaries. 2013 ~ 2014 Executive director of documentary feature, Old’ DJ’s Music - Currently filming. 2013 ~ Executive director of documentary feature, Secret Method - Currently filming. 2011 ~ 2016 (expected) Executive director of documentary feature. 1966 ~ 1976 A story of China’s Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution.
Contact
Gary Byung-seok Kam +82 10 2013 8481 garykam@me.com
2015 Rough Cut Sales
History
The Jury’s Special Award, CGV Arthouse Award at the 17th JIFF 13
The Con Artists Dear Madam President of us, by us, and for us. We'll be back in five years. Sincerely, Con Artists
Director Red CHOI
Genres Political Forensic Thriller
Status(release) In Production(2017)
Producer Red CHOI
Language Korean
Length 1 x 100min
Country Republic of Korea
Format 4K, 2.4:1
Synopsis
On the presidential election day of Republic of Korea in 2012. Two rival candidates, Geun-hye PARK and Jae-in MOON compete in a neck and neck race. At 8:45PM, KBS announces that candidate Park is most likely to win the race. As the counting nears the end around midnight, Park leads the race with 51.7% of the votes. Many observers presume no change of the situation and leave the counting facilities. Between 00:58AM and 04:43AM, however, an odd phenomenon occurs. Candidate Moon starts gaining more votes than Park throughout the country. This phenomenon is observed even in the counties that have been considered as Park’s home grounds. Accordingly the percentage of the votes for Park starts dropping slightly. When the race is over, Park ends up becoming the President-elect with 51.6% of the votes. Ironically, 516 (May 16) is the date that Park’s father, Chung-hee. PARK carried out a military coup d’etat to seize the power in 1961. Could this be a sheer coincidence? What happened during these three hours and forty-five minutes? The rule No. 1 of Forensic Science says otherwise; ‘Every contact leaves a trace.’ This film traces back the contacts that might have been made on this very election day. Director’s Bio
Red Choi is an award winning filmmaker with authentic point-of-view. He made his directorial debut with A Short Film About the Brokenhearted in 1996. His first feature-length documentary, Dandelion is considered to be the great example of Korean direct cinema. His second feature Patriot Game was a political satire with innovative approach of mixed medium and genre. Taxi Blues is a performative documentary about the lives he met as a taxi driver in Seoul. Unconfined by genre, he continues to explore the modes that suit the story best. History
Supported by Seoul Film Commission
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Contact
Red CHOI +82 10 8723 9455 redchois@gmail.com
2016 K-PITCH
A Corner Shop An adolescent diary of tattooed girls and boys working in a small lunch store ‘A Cat On a Picnic.’
Director Sook-kyung LEE
Genres Coming-of-age story
Status(release) In Production (2017)
Producer So-hyun PI
Language Korean
Length 1 x 80min
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
A tattooed boy who used to go to a village school, a guitarist girl in a closet, a hikicomori, and a bullied. These four young girls and boys work in a lunch shop ‘A Cat On a Picnic’. They chose to work instead of going to a college. Spending their late teens together, they wait for their time. They try to be calm and not to hurry, but they can’t help being worried sometimes. When they have to wash their worries away, they steam rice, make pancakes, and mop the kitchen floor. Director’s Bio
LEE majored in women’s study in a graduate school and has engaged in various activities running Zoomanet, a web platform for women since 2001. In 2007, she graduated from Korean Academy of Film Arts and was invited to BERLINALE under Forum section with her first feature The Day After, which received NETPAC award. In 2012, she directed a feature documentary Wandering Stars.
Contact
So-hyun PI acornershop2015@gmail.com
2014 K-PITCH
History
Pitched at EIDF Documentary Fund 2016
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Counters Former Yakuza (Japanese mafia) Takahashi is reborn, determined to fight against the Japanese extreme-right, racist group Zaitokukai.
Director Il-ha LEE
Genres Socio·political
Status(release) Production
Producer Won-jung BAE
Language Korean, Japanese
Length 1 x 75min
Production EXPOSED FILM
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
Since 2013, Zaitokukai, Japan’s extreme-right racists group, has organized more than 1000 hate speeches around the nation, shouting incendiary slogans on the street. A coalition of ordinary citizen come to “counter” the racists group, calling out for the awakening of Japanese conscience. Spearheading the anti-racist “Counters,” our problematic protagonist Takahashi, a former midlevel Yakuza boss, offers himself as a human shield to protect demonstrators from police and racist aggression. Takahashi put together a team of unlikely heroes, a cartoonist, a delivery-man, an ex-con, a gigolo, a politician, and a journalist to form a militant subgroup. They call themselves, Otokogumi, “the real men group (The Menfolk).” In their membership, The Menfolk exemplifies what they are fighting for: inclusion and diversity. But, are Takahashi and The Menfolk the new future of civic movement? What does it take to protect the civility of society in times when xenophobes fill the streets calling for racial massacres? Director’s Bio
Director LEE was born in Korea and went to Japan in 2000. After graduated from Tama Art University, he took his master's degree in Nihon University and completed doctor course at Osaka University of Arts. A Crybaby Boxing Club, director LEE’s first feature film, was chosen for the opening film of 2014 DMZ Docs and released in late October 2015. History
BCPF DocuClinic 2016
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Contact
Il-ha LEE +81 90 6195 8762 exposedfilm2000@gmail.com
2015 K-PITCH
A Crescent Moon on the Stage An actor named Ho Sub Nam(33) lost his sight on his left eye and almost 90% of vision on his right eye due to uveitis. But he never gives up and try to be on the stage at his hometown, Sokcho.
Director Jae-young KIM, Hwi-won TAE
Genres Human, Art&Culture
Status(release) Production(2017)
Producer Jae-young KIM
Language Korean
Length 1 x 75min
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD
Synopsis
A 33-year-old Korean actor named Ho-sub NAM has been losing his sight due to the uveitis on his retina since 2005. His left eye is completely blind and cannot feel the light. Only 10% of his vision remains on his right eye, but it is disappearing slowly. In 2011, he frustrated deeply as an actor on the stage, came back to his hometown Sokcho which is small city in Gangwon Province and has few of professional theater actors and producers. He established his own theater company named ‘Soul Theater’ with his young students, staging some plays on the small place in Gangwon Province. In 2016, when he trained himself for the work named <Counter Point>, he realized that his vision is getting worse. Physical training increases intraocular pressure on his right eye, so that his optic nerve was damaged. Besides his company members Su-jin KIM(28), Guk-jung YOON(27) move to Seoul to find better chances as an actor, leaving Ho Sub behind in Sokcho. In this situation his sight is getting worse and his company members are leaving his side, can he continue to be on the stage as an actor? Director’s Bio
Director and producer Jae-young KIM, graduated the master course of Performing Arts Studies, University of Humanities, Seoul National University and now is in the course of PhD at the same major. He studies perfoming arts theory from the view of liberal arts and also he's interested in producing documentary play and movie. He has produced a few of plays called If you say so, I understand it is, Quite a performance at the school and a few of short films called Some nights at the Sukmo Island, Night Hiking, Sit and Go. Director and Director of Photography, Hwi-won TAE, graduated from University of North Texas with a bachelor's degree in photography and now he is in the master's degree course of photography at Chung-Ang University. He had several group exhibition and solo exhibition in U.S. His main works of art are Releasing Time, and Signs of Life.
Contact
Jae-young KIM +82 10 8804 4905 doide@naver.com History
Supported by CJ Culture Foundation
2016 K-PITCH
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The Day After Victims and their families of the Sewol Ferry tragedy were betrayed by this day and era, and mothers in mourning for their lost children are still at war.
Director Seung-ku LEE
Genres Human, Socio¡political
Status(release) Production (03/2017)
Producer Kyung-soo HAN
Language Korean
Length 1 x 100min
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
249 of the 304 victims of the Sewol Ferry tragedy were high school students on a school trip that day. At the most crucial moment, the captain and crew abandoned the ship and its passengers, and the government squandered all of the golden hour available for rescue, failing to save even a single soul. The owner of the Sewol Ferry was later found dead, and the government maneuvered cleverly to sabotage the enactment of a special law(for the compensation of victims and reinforcement of safety measures, etc.) and the activities of the investigative committee established to ascertain the truth. 1 and 1/2 years later, there is no truth revealed. Up until today, some mothers remain in mourning for their lost children, engaging in a lonesome struggle to find the truth, shouting out loud, to whoever would lend their ear, to help them find even a single bone or any trace of their loved ones. Directorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bio
Since LEE started making documentary films in 1998, he has been involved in numerous films especially about disaster in Sichuan earthquake, Fukushima Tsunami, Indonesia earthquake, etc. He stayed with victim's family at Jindo gymnasium for seven months while searching for dead bodies has been undergoing, and recorded the time of pain and grief. Afterwards until now, his camera is always with victim's family wherever they go for demanding investigation and salvage of the wrecked ship.
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Contact
Kyung-soo HAN +82 10 4103 5934 handocu@gmail.com
2015 A-PITCH
Dear Grandma The last shared moments between a workaholic grandmother and a lazy granddaughter
Director So-hyun LEE
Genres Human Interest
Status(release) Completed (Sep. 2016)
Producer Da-kyung HWANG
Language Korean
Length 1 x 80min
Production KYUNG PICTURES
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Sales M-Line Distribution
Synopsis
One summer day, I was searching for a job and I heard the shocking news. My grandmother tried to commit suicide by taking pills. I decided to stay with her, so she can't leave me. My grandma wakes up early in the morning, she waters the flowers, cleans her garden and makes us nice breakfast. She saved the bird from drowning in the toilet and she told me to let it fly with big smile. But why did she try to kill herself? By staying with her, I started to understand her little by little. Directorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bio
LEE Majored in filmmaking in university and majored in film sound at graduate school. From her first short film Tashideleck(2005) about her Tibetan friend who bumped into during her trip, she kept made documentaries of people who she met accidently or by destiny. Dear Grandma is her first feature debut.
Contact
M-Line Distribution +82 2 796 2425 sales@mline-distribution.com
2014 K-PITCH
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Evaporated Now the journey of a father is going to start again for searching for a daughter who was missing 14 years ago
Director Sung-min KIM
Genres Human Interest
Status(release) Post-Production (2017)
Language Korean
Length 1 x 90min, 1 x 52min
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
Yongjin CHOI's six-year-old daughter, Jun-won was missing fourteen years ago. CHOI has recorded his own investigation details and has started to chase the lives of people who are suspected to be associated with Jun-won's disappearance from the right next day she was missing. After fourteen years, her disappearance becomes a part of CHOI's life. The time he scoured for a daughter laying aside his life has passed. But CHOI says the chance to find his daughter becomes twice this year. Jun-won turns eighteen years old and is legally considered an adult this year. A lot of disappeared children go out to find their own parents when they become adults. CHOI believes that Jun-won might set out in search of her father. That is why he makes himself a promise of his own reinvestigation and approaches persons' lives who are suspected of being related to his daughter's missing, starting with taking out the investigation record kept in the police. He sometimes keeps an eye on their lives from a distance, sometimes goes near and looks for her traces which might be remained faintly around their lives after fourteen years. The film follows his emotional changes and tides he shows by going through the process. Directorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bio
Sung-min KIM studied documentary directing in college. He had worked on Wind On the Moon directed by SeungJun YI as an assistant director. When he was eager to make documentary film but he was too desperate because he didn't know what he actually talked about, he came to think about the most desperate peoples' lives in this world. He started meeting parents who lost their children and is developing a documentary film Evaporated.
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Contact
Sung-min KIM adpdfd@naver.com
2014 K-PITCH
Face, the Other Side It happened to me, I will not stand it.
Director Sun-hee LEE
Genres Human, Socio·Political
Status(release) Production(2017)
Producer Sun-hee LEE
Language Korean
Length 1 x 90min
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD
Synopsis
‘A’ met him when she was 19 years old. It was the sweet first love for her and she was brilliant twenty years old then. It was the next spring semester that the affair has happened to her. ‘A’ was afraid of his obssession with herself, so she said goodbye to him. However what she got from him was the revenge porn. The video of them having sex before breakup spreaded on the online rapidly. ‘A’ couldn’t go to school and meet other people anymore. She really wanted to live as in the past. Though ‘A’ has gotten plastic surgery in order to live as totally different person ‘B’, but with new appearance she kept being isolated. Her everyday life was eliminated but her sexual video wanders around the online world. Now s/he starts up on the road where misogyny is running rampant. “Let’s give her back her spring.” Director’s Bio
Producer and Co-Director of the documentary Thirty-four on the road which features a story of disabled women. This work was chosen as Rough Cut Sales section of Docs Port Incheon 2014, and it was invited for showcase of the market in the following year. Also the work was awarded Brave Wild Goose Prize in DMZ Docs in 2015. And she wrote the scenario of ʳDraw a Lightʴ about Korean first women painter Hye-sok NAH. These days she has been working for making documentary about revenge porn.
Contact
Sun-hee LEE +82 10 3080 5695 gender21@naver.com
2016 K-PITCH
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Factory Complex Through the voices of female workers, this film traces the footsteps of the past and present, the inner world and its opposite view from outside, and the worries and concerns about labor conditions. Then it goes further to comfort the laborers it meets.
Director Heung-soon IM
Genres Labor, Social Politics, History
Status(release) Completed (Aug. 2015)
Producer Min-kyung KIM
Language Korean, Khmer
Length 1 x 108min
Production BANDAL Doc
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
In January 2014, on the day sewing workers stood up in Cambodia across the sea, a bullet hit the head of 21-year-old female worker. It was the answer to their voices arguing that workers were also human beings and they wanted to be paid what their labors worth of. Low salary, exploitation, and the bloody crackdown: the words that filled Cheonggyecheon market in 1970’s Korea and that we longed to forget so much are now hovering over Southeast Asia. Daughters of the past female workers are now non-regular workers or emotion-laborers such as call center guides, transportation crews, and supermarket clerks. With the emergence of new service, digitalization and high-tech industry, the act of labor itself seems to have improved, nonetheless, why do these female workers still have to endure hard and impoverished lives? Director’s Bio
Heung-soon IM is a visual artist and film director. Since the early works on his working-class family, he has explored the lives of people who are marginalized in social, political, capitalist, and national contexts. His political yet emotional works are embodied through various visual mediums. His works have been shown at domestic and international exhibitions such as the Gwangju Biennale, Galleria Nazionaled' Arte Moderna, Sharjah Biennale, Venezia Biennale, MoMA PS1 etc. He directed JejuPrayer(2012) which is his first long film, and Factory Complex(2015), his latest work. Factory Complex won the Silver Lion Award.
Contact
Hee-jung OH +82 10 4090 4621 Hj.oh.film@gmail.com
2014 Rough Cut Sales
History
2015 - DOK Leipzig(Germany) / Shanghai International Film festival(China) Montreal International Film festival(Canada) / Cambodia International Film festival(Cambodia) 2016 - Art of the Real(NY Lincoln Center, USA) / Images Festival(Canada) DOK Fest München(Germany) 22
Family in the Bubble A family chasing for a new real estate bubble, while trying to recover from the last one, which tore them apart.
Director Min-ji MA
Genres Personal & POV, Social & Human Interest
Status(release) Post-production
Producer Young-soo PARK
Language Korean
Length 1X52min, 1X80min
Co-Producer Liisa JUNTUNEN
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Production Shangma Pictures,
Napafilms Ltd.
Synopsis
My parents were real estate developer and dealers in the 80s. They were able to realize the “middle class dream” thanks to the property market boom in Jamsil, the “B-list Gangnam” where those who dreamed of Gangnam gathered. But after the Asian financial crisis, everything vanished into thin air and our family was damaged to the core. I grew distant from my parents and didn't want to include them in my life. One day, my parents are told by the landlord to move out because our apartment will soon be reconstructed as a studio. However, my parents are far from worried about finding a new place to live; they are still waiting for a “jackpot” which they hope will help them make a golden comeback to the middle class. I having lived away from my parents for 7 years at the time, I take out my camera to investigate the true face of real estate and my family history, which seemed inextricably bound together. Ultimately, I come face to face with a neoliberal era in which my family struggles to gain footing and be a family again. Director’s Bio
Director Min-ji MA graduated in Film directing from Korea National University of Arts and following master’s course in Documentary Production. She directed several short films. Family in the Bubble is her first feature film. History
Contact
Min-ji MA +82 10 8246 8954 shangma.pictures@gmail.com
2015 K-PITCH 2016 Rough Cut Sales
2015 - Grand Priz, JPM Documentary Pitch, JIFF / THEPEC&FRD Award Documentary Film Pitch & Catch, SIWFF The Best Young Korean Director’s Project, Docs Port Incheon 2016 - Hot Docs Forum Selected Project 23
Farming Boys Three Korean young men in 20’s travel all around the world to be farmers without money.
Director Hojun KANG, Siyeon BYUN,
Sejung JANG Producer Hojun KANG
Genres Human Documentary
Status(release) In production
Language Korean
Length 1 x 95min
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Production Contents Namu Corp.
Synopsis
Three young men, Ji-hwang, Ha-seok and Du-hyeon who dream of becoming a farmer travel to farms around the world. What motivated them was simple curiosity: how do foreign farmers manage when it is so difficult to make a living as a farmer in Korea? After one-year working sabbatical in Australia, they have visited Australia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, India, Nepal, Italy, France, Belgium and Netherlands by WWOOFING(In return for volunteer help, WWOOF hosts offer food, accommodation and opportunities). They meet various farmers in a variety of farms during the trip. In the end, what is it that they found during their trips to farms around the world? And will they succeed in making their dreams come true and become farmers in Korea? Director’s Bio Ho-jun KANG started to direct TV shows and documentaries at Indiecom, a media company. In 2000, he received Special Prize from the 6th Berlin International Folklore Festival with Mother and Son. In 2001, he directed one episode from the omnibus film KISSES and was invited to BIFF and Gothenburg Film Festival in Sweden. Se-jung JANG majored in film directing in Chung-ang University. In 2001, she directed a fake documentary Beautiful and was invited to several film festivals including BIFAN. Si-yeon BYUN majored Broadcasting and Advertising in Ewha women’s university. She started to film documentaries, starting with 3D documentary in 2011. She likes to do deep research on human and to reflect their lives in documentaries in a meaningful way. She dreams to film documentaries that can bring positive changes to the world.
Contact
Ho-jun KANG +82 10 3181 5835 docu21@contentsnamu.com
2014 K-PITCH
History 2-week release guarantee by CGV Award, Docs Port Incheon 2014 / 60,000,000KRW confirmed by KOCCA / D.I, D.C.P, Sound Design and Sound mixing confirmed by KOFIC
24
For Vagina’s Sake We didn’t choose to bleed, but we will choose how to.
Director Bo-ram KIM
Genres Socio·Political, Science, History
Status(release) Production(2017)
Producer Hee-jung OH
Language Korean
Length 1 x 52min, 1X75min
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD
Synopsis
Women are designed to bleed against their will, and this bleeding has been symbolized as mystery, impurity, and inferiority. The history of bleeding goes with the course of history. War, revolution, economic development defined the new roles of women, and the needs of the times invented new ways of bleeding. As the extension of women’s rights reached a plateau at some point, there has been no advancement since disposable pads and tampons, the virtues of which is to be quick, be unnoticed, be quiet, and be shameful. The US National Public Radio(NPR) crowned 2015 as the Year of Period, and this big wave of free bleeding movement has arrived in Korea. Women all over the world start to speak with one voice to break the taboo and fight for equality. We are now facing the new era of alternative bleeding; new menstrual products are pouring out of technology and imagination. Youtube star reviewing menstrual products has more than a million subscribers, and politicians start paying attention to bleeding. Now, women talk about bleeding, demand better ways of bleeding, and exercise their right to choose. Director’s Bio
Bo-ram KIM has majored in Literature in university and has been greatly influenced by English Literature. She worked in a story development team for a film productions for two years. She was the scriptwriter of Upo, People in Wetland which was broadcasted on EBS DocuPrime and screened in Shanghai TV Festival in 2013. She has been working as a producer for the last two years and For Vagina’s Sake is her first film to direct.
Contact
Hee-jung OH +82 10 4090 4621 keam.production@gmail.com
2016 K-PITCH
History
Supported by BIFF - AND 2016 / SIWFF2016 / KCA 25
Holy Working Day Road Documentary - Korea youth as working class survive in Australia
Director Hee-won LEE
Genres Human
Status(release) Completed
Producer Bo-young AN
Language Korean, English
Length 1 x 90min
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
Hee-won ahead of college is to leave as “International internship program” in Australia to fill the career resume. As "global talent” called by herself, She enjoyed chic and wonderful city life for a while. But she got a part-time job soon because of high-price in Sydney and met a lot of young people who moved away from their countries. When the time comes going back to Korea, she heard some rumors about Australian farm that can make a lot of money and travel to great outdoor as well. She decided to leave there and prepared to pack the stuff and to gather members for achieving “Outback dream." Director’s Bio
Studied at Korea National University of Arts as documentary film (2015 B.A), she continually interested in labor, youth, poverty with satire technique or black comedy. SIWFF - Documentary Ockrang Munhwa Award (2014) History
Ock Rang Award, SIWFF 2014 DMZ Docs 2014
26
Contact
Bo-young AN +82 10 3283 6966 lepra80@gmail.com
2015 Rough Cut Sales
Host Nation A Filipino woman, Maria, applies for a migrant entertainer job in Republic of Korea. That was the beginning of Maria’s two-year journey into a particular sex industry in Korea mainly catering to American soldiers stationed there.
Director Ko-woon LEE
Genres Human, Socio·political
Status(release) Post-Production
Producer Ko-woon LEE
Language Korean, English, Filipino
Length 1 x 90min
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
The film chronicles Maria’s hopes, dreams, and crucial reality for two years to lay bare the legalized system of sex trafficking between Republic of Korea and the Philippines. Maria has been dreaming about escaping from her slum neighborhood in Davao, Philippines, and getting a job abroad. When Maria was introduced to a talent manager, Madam Yolanda, her dream was about to come true. Manager Yolanda operates a training center in Manila for women like Maria. Yolanda has witnessed the ups and downs of the sex industries of neighboring Asian countries and sees the openings in the industry as job opportunities for poor Filipino women. As Japan also once had its heyday in the past, during this period of time, Republic of Korea is a major destination country for entertainers. Yolanda is not only a guardian angel for women desperately seeking jobs abroad in Republic of Korea but also a perpetrator who takes twenty percent of what the women earn while abroad. Director’s Bio
Born in Seoul, Ko-woon LEE graduated from San Francisco Art Institute with Filmmaking MFA. She worked as a documentary producer for a TV station in Republic of Korea and now directs documentary films and teaches film classes as well. Ko-woon LEE directs documentaries tracing Korean history about the links between the sexual exploitation of women and militarism.
Contact
Ko-woon LEE +82 10 4302 1464 kowoont@gmail.com
2015 K-PITCH
History
2015 - Ock-rang Culture Prize Award at SIWFF Doc Spirit Award at Docs Port Incheon 2016 - Best Project Prize at Docedge Kolkata, Premiered at SIWFF 27
Into the Night 'Into the Night' is the story of indie rock musician who is looking for vocal.
Director Jae-min KARL
Genres Art&Culture
Status(release) Completed
Producer Il-kwon KIM
Language Korean
Length 1 x 100min
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
Seung-woo who is a 20 year veteran rock musician, form a band named “The Monotones”. But the first vocal’s skill was below standard, and the second vocal has been cast in a new TV soap opera. Finally they meet the third vocal, Sae-young. “The Monotones” hold their debut concert. But Sae-young leaves the band, because his personality has been not compatible with Seungwoo. They try to find a new vocal, but it is hard to find a good vocal at that time. They are idling away their time without vocal and become tired. One day Seung-woo decides to perform without vocal. It is his last effort to keep the band “The Monotones”. Through the monotones’ rooftop concert without vocal, they come to realize that here is where they should be, and they remember when they first began. Director’s Bio
Neowiz Games, 'Bless' with Hans Zimmer, Documentary 2014 Bye Bye Badman - Yellow Light, Music Video, 2012 The Moonshiners - Motel Manhattan, The Black Sea Call Me, Music Video, 2011 and many more works. History
12th Jecheon International Music & Film Festival 2016
28
Contact
Il-kwon KIM +82-10-2586-2135 dal@cinemadal.com
2015 K-PITCH
The Journey to OKJU How do you reconcile with your father? Here, you will see a father and a son trying to reconcile with Soris.
Director Eung-su KIM
Genres Music
Status(release) Completed
Producer Moon Woong
Language Korean
Length 1 x 158min
Production Kimeungsu film
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
In One Fine Spring Day, a Korean melodrama, it wasn't the handsome main characters' love that remained most vividly in my memory, but the scene in which the main male character was recording Jeongsun Arirang, sung by an old couple in a mountainous village. At that time whilst seeing the movie, I asked myself why this sound, not the romance, makes me shudder. I was in my 30s. And, as coincidences become inevitability, I came to know the strange village. Directorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bio
The City in the Water(2014) Without Father(2012) The Origin of Water(2010) The Past is a Strange Country(2008) Heavenly Path(2006)
Contact
Eung-su KIM +82 10 7577 8397 eungsu_k@daum.net
2014 K-PITCH
History
DMZ Docs 2016 (World Premiere)
29
King in a Cage The shadow of desire, covets for the king of beasts
Director Hwan-sung PARK
Genres Animal
Status(release) In production(2017)
Production Blue Rhino Pictures
Language Korean
Length 1 x 52min
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
There is a group of lions deprived of their hunter instincts as they grow up in the care of humans. They are objects tamed to fulfill the desire of humans who wish to experience the pleasure of dominating these so called King of the Beasts. Brought up like man’s best friend, they do not run away at the sight of humans. They recall their keepers who fed them as cubs as they approach humans. At that moment, human hunters pull the trigger. The hunters beam in front of the lion’s carcass as they continue to take keepsake pictures. The dead lion is then sent to a taxidermy factory where it is stuffed, packaged and delivered to the home of the hunter even before (s)he arrives. Recently, veterinarians and wild life activists have come together to rescue these lions and give them a new life after rehabilitation. Through their effort, things seem to be more hopeful for the lions. Will the lion in this film continue a life as the humans’ toy or will it successfully be rehabilitated and return to the life it should be living? Director’s Bio
PARK is a producer and head of Blue Rhino Pictures specializing in nature documentaries. Malawi, The War on Water(2009, EBS), A Boy and an Elephant(2012, EBS), Sundarbans(2013, KBS), The Bridle of Horse Fighter(2012, NHK, KBS), A Boy and a Hyena(2014, MBC) History
Pitched at SSD 2014
30
Contact
Hwan-sung PARK +82 10 5546 7844 bluerhino46@naver.com
2014 K-PITCH
Le Tour, The Memories of a Forgotten Dream
A cancer patient rides “Le tour de France” stages
Director Jung-ha LIM, Yang-rae KIM,
Hyung-joon PARK, Il-woo JEON Producer Jung-ha LIM
Genres Ethnography, Sports
Status(release) Completed
Language Korean
Length 1 x 96min
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Production Polarbear Pictures co.,Ltd.
Synopsis
This is a documentary aims about: A 26-year-old young man, Yun-hyuk was a patient who had a dream to become a teacher to tell his life story to his - future - students. He’s got a cancer desmoplastic small round cell tumor -, that is deadly. While he was fighting with the disease, he started to ride a cycle to overcome that cancer, and started to get a dream to ride along “The Tour de France” stages. He gathered members, and went to France. They rode for the cancer patients, and for himself. But the dream was not easy to come true. Lack of money, conflicts among members and deadly weather got to a disaster to Yun-hyuk. But he managed to succeed, for his efforts, members came to get together. Eventually, he succeeded what he wanted to. And, 1 year later, he died. That was July, 2010. Director’s Bio
Jung-ha LIM, Producer of The Chaser (2008) The Guard Post (2007), Forbidden Quest (2006) Yang-rae KIM 2008 ~ 2010, Themes Around the World, EBS / 2006 ~ Present, Docu Woman, EBS / 2007 Twopart documentary Hooray! Pansori Reciters on the Streets: Production was Supported by the broadcasting contents promotion project of Korean Broadcasting Commission and aired on History Channel. Hyung-joon PARK, Il-woo JEON
Contact
Jung-ha LIM +82 10 9048 3397 jean20@naver.com
2015 Rough Cut Sales
31
Little Girl Blue A story of a girl with grade 2 intellectual disability plays a guitar and grows up as a member of the society through music, and moves toward her dream as the world-famous guitarist.
Director Jin-sik HYUN
Genres Human, Music
Status(release) In Production (2017)
Producer Na-rae KIM
Language Korean
Length 1 x 90min
Production See Saw
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD
Synopsis
Ji-hee never had a friend. She has grade 2 intellectual disability, lacking the sociality to mingle with people. She is a delicate girl, who could have been crying alone in her room, if her father did not recommend her to play the guitar. Now she has a dream to be the world-famous guitarist, and she started to play for other people. She gets applauses for overcoming her disability, but her performance is yet too timid and small to move the listeners’ minds. She feels a high wall in the world of arts that demands creativity and she has to fight with herself and her disability once again. She is desperately trying not to go back to her difficult old days, and learns to live with other people in the world. Director’s Bio
Documentary director and a musician. Started his career in visual production, directing music videos, and now in many different fields, including films, editing, photograph, and music. He was in charge of formation and editing My Love, Don’t Cross That River (2014), pursuing his own work style as capturing the reality of documentaries along with cinematic narrative and immersion. He made meaningful attempts in his first film Windy Coffee Road (2016). He is a guitarist of a rock band ‘FauloCity’ and the leader of ‘Voight-Kampff’, a film music production group. History
Supported by BCPF
32
Contact
Na-rae KIM +82 10 3343 8304 ciel_k@naver.com
2016 K-PITCH
The Mapper With our coordinate values having been defined, it now seems impossible to get lost. Can we escape?
Director Kang-hyun LEE
Genres Etc.
Status(release) Pre-Production
Producer Kang-hyun LEE
Language Korean
Length 1 x 100min
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
Mapper A is measuring, the heights of, and the distances between all objects within sight, which stand on a certain bare ground. He goes to and fro among the trig point stones, that are marked every 2kms on all surface within the lawfully declared state border, and the bench marks, that are established every 3kms, extracting a web like a spider. Our coordinate values have been defined with such precision by this cobweb of the System, that you and I, mere points on this web, can no longer get lost. Can we place ourselves on the exterior? Directorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bio
The Description of Bankruptcy (2006) was screened in Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, Amsterdam, Taiwan, and Jeonju. The Color of Pain (2011) was screened in Torino International Film Festival (Special Mention of the Jury Award), Jeonju(Spectator Critics Award), Marseille International Film Festival, Jogja-Netpac Asia, Cinemanila; selected by critics as 10 Best Korean Films released in 2011(Korea Film Archive).
Contact
Kang-hyun LEE +82 10 3600 5134 fic208@gmail.com
2015 K-PITCH
33
Mr.KIM A North Korean Spy or Democracy Fighter? We search for a man whose disputed identity sparked a national controversy.
Director Sang-woo KANG
Genres Socio·political, Investigative
Status(release) In Production (2017)
Producer Yeon-kyoung SHIN
Language Korean
Length 1 x 90min, 1 x 52min
Production 1011 FILMS
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
Mr. Kim begins with a photo of a young man taken during the 1980 Gwangju Massacre. In May 2015, right-wing commentator JEE Manwon claims that the man in the photo was the leader of approximately 600 North Korean special forces who perpetrated the Gwangju Uprising. Survivors outraged by JEE's claim of North Korea's involvement in the uprising sue JEE for defamation and distorting the history of the uprising, yet no one remembers who the man in the photo was. JOO -ok, a 56-year-old laundry woman, sees the photo at a new museum and remembers him as “Mr. Kim,” a homeless man who collected wastes in the neighborhood. Who is “Mr. Kim,” and where has he gone? Based on JOO's memory, we embark on a journey to find out the truth about “Mr. Kim.” Director’s Bio
Born in 1983 in Seoul, Sang-woo KANG studied film, physics, and computer science in college. His short films CLEAN ME, Anmado, and A Silk Letter have been invited to film festivals such as Vancouver International Film Festival, Indieforum, SIFF, Misc-en-scene Short Film Festival, and Seoul International Experimental Film Festival. History
Best Korean Project, Docs Port Incheon 2015 New Directors’ Project Fund, DMZ Docs 2015
34
Contact
1011 FILMS +82 10 8882 0209 yeonkyoungshin@gmail.com
2015 K-PITCH
Mrs.B. A North Korean Woman Mrs.B is a North Korean smuggler in China. She goes to Republic of Korea to be reunited with her sons.
Director Jero YUN
Genres Human
Status(release) Completed
Producer Guillaume De la Boulaye &
Language Korean, Chinese
Length 1 x 72min
Country France, Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
CHA Jae-keun Production Zorba Production& Su:m
Sales Doc & Film International
Synopsis
Ten years ago, Mrs.B left North Korea for China to work for a year, but she was sold to a Chinese peasant, to be is wife. Mrs.B was a victim of the system with which she now collaborates: she has become a smuggler herself. She managed to smuggle her two sons into Republic of Korea. Now she is leaving China to meet them, even though she has come to love her Chinese family. The road to Thailand – where North Koreans can apply for political asylum in Republic of Korea. In Thailand, they are arrested and sent to the Bangkok Immigration Detention Centre. Mrs.B is happy to be transferred to the Republic of Korean Authorities, but she is suspected of being a North Korean spy. She finds a job in Seoul, yet her past is still under investigation. She lives with her sons in the apartment the Republic of Korean government grants them and with her North Korean ex-husband. Her situation is difficult. She only finds happiness in her conversations with Chinese husband... Director’s Bio
Born in Busan, he studied Art and Cinema in France. In 2011, his short film Promise awarded Grand Prize in Asiana ISFF. In 2013, he made a documentary Looking For North Koreans (Hamburg IFF, Jihlava) and a short film The Pig (Directors'Fortnight, BIFF). In 2016, his two films selected in
Contact
Jero YUN +82 10 2898 2370 jeroyun@hotmail.com
2015 Rough Cut Sales
Cannes: Mrs.B. A North Korean Woman (Best Documentary Moscow IFF) and Hitchhiker in Directors'Fortnight. History 2016 - ACID Cannes Film Festival / JIFF / Moscow International Film Festival – Best Documentary Award / Zurich International Film Festival / DMZ Docs / Milano International Film Festival / CORSICA.DOC. Ajaccio / Festival les Rencontres Périphéries à Montreuil / North Korean Human Right IFF and many more festivals
35
My Daughter’s Toe Walking Mother and Documentary filmmaker takes the camera upon herself in search of an answer to the changes brought by her daughter's toe walking.
Director Woo-jung KWON Producer Ji-hyun KIM Production J&R Films
Genres Human Interest, Socio·Political,
Woman, Disability Language Korean
Status(release) In Production(2017) Length 1 x 100min Format HD l Color
Country Republic of Korea
Synopsis
I, a documentary filmmaker as well as a mother of a 5-year-old daughter, am desperate to find an answer to my daughter's toe-walking, which has given me endless guilt and anxiety since her birth. In the hope that they can understand my complicated feelings more than anybody else, I approach the mothers of disabled children with a camera. I conduct interviews of them. I make podcasts with them. I even make a theatrical play with and for them. But their invaluable confessions and consolations stay with me only for a moment. Deep in my heart, I still whisper to myself "what if my daughter didn't walk on her toes..." After completing the film, shall I be able to accept and face my child's toe walking and the changes it implies for me for what they are? Director’s Bio
She attended VJ academy in Citizen’s Coalition for Democratic Media in 2000. Then she joined ‘Docu-in’, an independent documentary production and started making documentaries related to an agriculture village issue. In 2004, she directed her first feature documentary Back to the Soil, which has been invited to the various national and international film festivals and she won “the human right prize of the year” in Seoul Human Rights Film Festival. In 2006, she made an episode of '16 Takes of Korean Society', commented for “Woonpa prize” in BIFF. Her latest work Earth’s Women has been acclaimed at numerous film festivals such as the SIFF(Grand Prize) and the BIFF(Mecenat Award) in 2009. Earth’s Women was released in theater in 2010.
Contact
Ji-hyun KIM +82 10 9820 0330 notyourfault15@gmail.com
2016 K-PITCH
History
Supported by KOFIC / DMZ Docs – Daemyung Culture Factory Docu Fund 2016
36
Old Marine Boy A portrait of a courageous man as living as a deep-sea diver, who fights against the unsettling life for his family.
Director Mo-young JIN
Genres Human Interest, Society, Politics
Status(release) Post-Production
Producer Mi-jin LEE, Kyong-soo HAN
Language Korean
Length 1 x 90min, 1 x 52min
Production My Love Films
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
In 2006, Myongho crossed the border with his wife and two sons with nothing from North Korea. In South, he becomes a deep-sea diver, so called Meoguri at the border village between South and North Korea. He wears 60kg diving suit, only relying on a single oxygen line from the boat, and fishes 30 meters down underwater. If the line goes wrong, he could die in any minute. Myongho once crossed the most dangerous borderline, now he constantly crosses the line between life and death. This film will be the portrait of a courageous man who fights against the life for his family. Directorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bio
JIN started his career in broadcasting and started to make documentaries from 2011 in order to focus on creating films with an insight into social issues. His main interest is modern Koreans. He believes that the stories of exotic yet universal Koreans are strong enough to answer to the essential question about life and society. In 2014, he received the Audience Award from DMZ Docs with feature length documentary My Love, Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Cross That River. He is currently watching a diver defected from North Korea who is living as a stranger in this society.
Contact
Mi-jin LEE +82 10 2988 0571 jin_oasis@hotmail.com
2014 K-PITCH
History
Korean Pitching Day at IDFA 2015 YLE is on board.
37
An Omnivorous Family's Dilemma The director who used to be a fan of pork cutlet is in a dilemma while filming pigs at a farm. "Love them or Eat them up?"
Director Yun HWANG
Genres Human, Social, Environmental
Status(release) Completed
Producer Il-kwon KIM
Language Korean
Length 1 x 105min
Production Studio Duma
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Sales CinemaDAL
Synopsis
In 2011, there was a nationwide slaughter of livestock in Republic of Korea to put a stop to the foot-and-mouth disease. Filmmaker Yun realises that she has never seen a pig before, and begins a journey in search of the animal. Yun goes deep into the mountains to meet a pig farmer who raises his pigs in a traditional way. Observing the daily routines of a mother pig Ship-Soon and her piglet Don-Soo, Yun develops a bond with the lovely pigs. As she becomes aware of the realities of the meat industry, it becomes more difficult for her to enjoy pork cutlets as she used to. And to make matters worse, her husband and young son Do-young are not making her choice of daily menus easier. As she falls into a deep dilemma, what is she supposed to do? Director’s Bio
With Farewell, HWANG received the Award of Excellence from Yamagata International Film Festival, Woonpa Award(Best Documentary Award) from BIFF, the Audience Award from SIFF, and was invited to numerous international film festivals including IDFA. She has directed Silent Forest and One Day on the Road. An Omnivorous Family’s Dilemma received Grand Prize at Green Film Festival in Seoul in 2014, and L’arbre Vert Award at Docs Port Incheon in 2015. It was also awarded from JPP at JIFF, and supported from Korean Film Council, DMZ Docs, BIFF and Broadcasting Content Promotion Foundation.
Contact
Yun HWANG +82 10 4727 7636 oneday2008@naver.com sales@cinemadal.com
2014 Rough Cut Sales
History
2015 - Berlinale(International Premiere), Bozcaada International Film of Ecological Documentary / San Francisco Green Film Festival and many more. 38
Optigraph Was my grandfather changed by the landscape? or Did he change the landscape?
Director Won-woo LEE
Genres Human, Socio¡Political, History, Art&Culture
Status(release) In Production(2017)
Producer Jeong-hyun MUN
Language Korean
Length 1 x 80min
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD
Synopsis
My maternal grandfather, who died at the age of 100, asked me to write his autobiography, when he was 99 years old. And, a few years later, I became a filmmaker, and started to do my assignment of long standing with a film camera and a sound recorder. I didn't know the faces of the grandfather who had been an agent of the OSS, the forerunner to the CIA, and a director of the security police around the start of the Korean War. The United States where he had lived for over 20 years, Burma (Myanmar) he worked undercover, the Provisional Government in China's Chongqing that he visited as Syngmyn Rhee's connection, etc. If I visit these places, could I see the landscapes that he had seen? And had he wanted to change the landscapes of those days? Is my grandfather in the records the same person I have known? I focus the camera on him, adjusting the focal length. Directorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bio
She used to make a film with super 8mm film and 16mm film for experimental documentary films. There are several films screened at domestic and international film festival. She got a Biff Mecenat Award from BIFF with co-directing film collapse.
Contact
Jeong-hyun Mun +82 10 6792 0788 documjh@naver.com
2016 K-PITCH
History
Supported by Seoul Film Commission
39
Reborn An ode to old women who have lived with memories of war that couldn’t pass out.
Director Heung-soon IM
Genres Human, History, Art&Culture
Status(release) In Production (August, 2017)
Producer Min-kyung KIM
Language Korean, Iranian,Vietnamese
Length 1 x 80min
Production BANDAL
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
The Cold war, Politics, Ideology, confrontation and conflict between religions became a cause to the outbreak of war in 20th century of Asia. The victims of war who have suffered most are the deceased, children and women. Here is a Korean woman who went through the Korean War, the Vietnam War and Iran-Iraq War. And there is a Vietnamese woman who lost her family in a massacre during the war. Also there is an Iranian woman who lost her son in the war. We could see deeply and slowly into our lives that we couldn’t have considered through Iran and Vietnam, the present and the past, totally different world between the deceased and the living, a place and people that couldn’t easily contact. Director’s Bio
Heung-soon IM is a visual artist and film director. Since the early works on his working-class family, he has explored the lives of people who are marginalized in social, political, capitalist, and national contexts. His political yet emotional works are embodied through various visual mediums. His works have been shown at domestic and international exhibitions such as the Gwangju Biennale, Galleria Nazionaled' Arte Moderna, Sharjah Biennale, Venezia Biennale, MoMA PS1 etc. He directed JejuPrayer(2012) which is his first long film, and Factory Complex(2015), his latest work. Factory Complex won the Silver Lion Award. History
Fund by Sharjah Art Foundation, SJM Cultural Foundation 40
Contact
BANDAL +82 10 3239 9809 diegorivera@hanmail.net
2015 K-PITCH
Red Maria 2 : The History of A Woman The neglected history of women in shame.
Director Kyung Soon
Genres Human, History
Status(release) Completed
Producer Kyung Soon
Language Korean, Japanese, English
Length 1 x 100min
Production Red Snowman
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
Sex workers in Korea and Japan, former prostitute-turned-comfort women, the director’s mother badmouthed for being showy. Red Maria 2: The History of A Woman unveil the neglected history of women in shame. Listening to the women’s voices unheard, the director questions the double standard towards women. Director’s Bio
Director Kyung Soon’s first film, Mindullae(1999), won her the Best Documentary Award at the BIFF. In 2001 she experimented further with documentary form and internet screenings with Patriot Game (2001). Up until now, her film include What Do People Live For (2003), a film documenting struggles surrounding Presidential Truth Commission on Suspicious Deaths, Shocking Family (2006), a film that playfully criticizes traditional notions of family, and Red Maria (2011), which asks new questions regarding women’s bodies and work.
Contact
Kyung Soon +82 10 3798 4626 redsnowman@hanmail.net
2015 Rough Cut Sales
History
7th DMZ Docs, Audience Award 2015 Screened at the 18th SIWFF 2016
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Red Painter A former propaganda painter of North Korea defected to Republic of Korea, and now paints the tragic reality of both countries.
Director Min-won SEO Producer Kyung-soo HAN
Genres Ethnography, Socio¡political,
History, Art&Culture Language Korean
Status(release) Completed (2017) Length 1 x 90min Format HD l Color
Country Republic of Korea
Synopsis
Hunger drove him to cross the border - a move of desperation which cost him his father and his fingers. A new settler in the unfamiliar South, Byeok SONG is known as a former propaganda artist daring to dress "the brilliant and beloved General" in skirts, Byeok SONG rose to international acclaim through his depiction of the desolate lives of "the people" in which he expresses his anger towards the regime. Yet, to most people South of the border, he still carries the label of a "commie propagandist." What does peace look like for the artist who served both countries? Traveling to the DMZ and coming face to face with fellow defectors, SONG embarks on a long journey to paint a new propaganda work of art depicting the nation's division and peace. Directorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bio
He has been making documentary films since 1995, and over the course of 6 years, he made more than 30 visits to North Korean across the border, met more than 500 defectors, and have been dedicated to airing more than 50 programs about recent developments in the North and North-South issues.
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Contact
Kyung-soo HAN +82 10 4103 5934 handocu@gmail.com
2015 Rough Cut Sales
The Remnants Are you ready to face the tragic memory of Yongsan?
Director Il-rhan KIM, Hyuk-sang LEE
Genres Human interest, Social·politic
Status(release) Post-production(2016)
Producer Il-rhan KIM, Hyuk-sang LEE
Language Korean
Length 1 x 133min
Production Pinks
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
In October 2015, the evicted residents who had imprisoned on a false charge of killing a policeman assembled in a place for the first time after the Yongsan Disaster six years ago. They had occupied a watchtower against unreasonable redevelopment policies and in protest against violent suppression used by riot police in 25 hours of their sit-in demonstration. Their colleagues had died from an unknown fire, and they became criminals. The delight of meeting again lasts only briefly. The ‘comrades’ rip out cruel words while blaming each other. What happened to them in the interim? Director’s Bio
Il-rhan KIM is an activist of Sexual Minority Cultures and Human Rights Solidarity Pinks. Based on feminism, she has participated in various cultural movements including documentary production. She directed Mamasang: Remember Me This Way, 3xFTM and Two Doors and worked as a producer of The Time of Our Lives, Miracle on Jongno Street, Nora Noh and Milyang, A Welcome Guest. Hyuk-sang LEE, an activist of Sexual Minority Cultures and Human Rights Solidarity Pinks, participated in cinematography and technical editing for Mamasang: Remember Me This Way, 3xFTM and The Time of Our Lives. In 2010, he directed a debut feature documentary Miracle on Jongno Street and participated as a creative director of Two Doors.
Contact
Pinks ypinks@gmail.com
2014 K-PITCH 2016 Rough Cut Sales
History
DMZ Docs 2016 (World Premiere) / BIFF 2016 43
See-Saw Only the painful can soothe pain
Director Hee-young KO
Genres Love, Soothe, Character Driven
Status(release) Completed (Nov, 2016)
Producer Jee-soo HAN
Language Korean (English Subtitled)
Length 1 x 72min
Production SM Culture and Contents
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
One man lost his sight and the other lost his muscles. Dongwoo LEE, visually impaired, and Jaesin LIM, suffering muscular distrophy, they both had their days of anger and hopelessness, when giving up seemed to be the only option. LIM, who considered committing suicide, decides to donate his eyes after hearing about LEE's recent visual impairment. However, LEE refuses, saying how could he, who has a healthy body except for his eyes, receive the eyes of someone who only has 5% of his body left. They say that this encounter gave them courage to face their lives again. They echo each other, saying, ‘Whether you are handicapped or not, there aren't many things that you can do by yourself.’ So they decide to be each other's eyes and body: they decide to travel together, which would be the biggest challenge for the two. The start might have been a bit awkward, but their relationship builds on the shared ground of having daughters they love and the pains that come with it. The world that they see through the sceneries on the road and other people's pain, what does that world look like? On the trip that has both vigor and loneliness, let's listen to their story, the sound of their heartbeat. Director’s Bio
2008~2015 Director of feature documentary, Breathing Underwater *JIFF: Special Jury Award 2011~2017 Executive Director of feature documentary, 1966-1976 - A story of China’s Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution 2013~2018 Executive Director of feature documentary, Secret Method 2013~2019 Executive Director of feature documentary, Old’ DJ’s Music: Currently filming History
Theathcal Release in November 17th 2016 (Republic of Korea)
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Contact
Jee-soo HAN +82 10 5249 2249 hicinema@gmail.com
2014 Rough Cut Sales
Singing with Angry Bird The heartwarming musical journey of a Korean choirmaster and his choir children and their parents in the slums of India.
Director Hye-won JEE
Genres Human, Art&Culture
Status(release) Post-Production(2016)
Producer Sun-ah KIM
Language English, Marathi, Korean
Length 1 x 90min
Production Upright Media Company
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD
Sales Autlook Filmsales
Synopsis
Singing with Angry Bird is a documentary about a Korean opera singer who tries to train the children and their parents for a joint-concert in Pune, India. The Korean opera singer, Jae-Chang Kim has been with the Banana Children’s Choir for the last five years. His quick temper earned him a nickname ‘Angry Bird.’ Realizing that the children cannot fully explore their potentials without the proper support from their parents, Angry Bird tries to convince the parents the importance of the choir work for their children. The best way to do that is to have the parents join the choir! The film follows a year-long journey of Kim and three families of the choir from the first parents’ meeting to the final concert. During this musical journey we witness how music enlivens and empowers people and connects people from different cultures and generations. Director’s Bio
Hye-won JEE is an International Emmy nominated director who has been working in Korean TV industry for over 20 years. She started her career at a prominent documentary production company in 1995 and later briefly worked as a commissioning editor for TV Chosun, a nationwide general broadcasting network. In 2008, she left the network to focus on making stories that are dear to her heart, and established a production company, Upright Media with her producing partner/husband Woo-yong SONG. She has produced and directed many TV documentaries about culture, history, and human interest stories and won numerous awards. Singing with Angry Bird is her first feature-length documentary.
Contact
Sun-ah KIM sunahkim100@gmail.com +82 10 7279 7034
2016 Rough Cut Sales
History
Supported by KCA, BCPF Pre-sales by NHK, KRO-NCRV, Autlook Filmsales 45
Thirty-four, on the Road Two disabled women turn to thirty four, an age to supposedly set a new direction for them. They make a step forward to a new life vehemently yet silently…
Director Byung-chul KIM, Sun-hee LEE
Genres Human Interest, Human Rights
Status(release) Completed
Producer Sun-hee LEE
Language Korean
Length 1 x 80min
Production Cross Border
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
Ae-rin and Jin-hee, the disabled suffering encephalopathy, often meet in a writing group. For Jinhee who spent a long time from her childhood in an orphanage, to participate in the group activity means as much as to go to a church. Her dream is to stand on her own feet eventually. She dreams to marry a loved one and live a happy independent life in a tenement house. And it is a well known secret that her loved one is Young-hee, a long time friend. Ae-rin has a lighter level of disability and is an acknowledged activist amongst the disabled. She is at the forefront of the sit-down strike for the abolition of the currently disputed social issue, the Degree of Disability Act and the Duty of Caregiving Act. She is seen to be aggressive in her activities, but inside of her, actually, is emptiness. She is lost because she does not know how to cope with the world and the people both changing. Director’s Bio
Byung-chul KIM finished a doctorial course in Film Studies, Chung-Ang University and currently teaches film in Chung-Ang University and Korea National University of Arts. Sun-hee LEE A master of Women’s Studies, Ewha Woman's University / President of Cross Border, a human rights education center. History
DMZ Docs, Brave Wild Goose Prize 2015
46
Contact
Sun-hee LEE +82 10 3080 5695 gender21@naver.com
2014 Rough Cut Sales
This Is Not a Piano A journey of a piano in the country of K-pop and military division. The stories about the piano unveil a unique insight into a modern society with an unprecedented capitalistic development.
Director Jung-min CHOI
Genres Social, Music, Human
Status(release) Completed
Producer Gary Byung-seok KAM
Language Korean
Length 1 x 90min
Production StoryOn
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
A piano sits in a strange space. Some people come and play, while the others pass by, and some of them just complain. An ethnic Korean woman from China, who used to be respected as a ‘teacher’ back in Yanbian Prefecture yet now just called ‘ma’am’ in Korea, wants to play the grand piano furnished in the house she is working as a housemaid at, only to realize her job is to polish it after all. At one time the piano sees a person who whines that playing a piano is just a show to flirt with a woman, and on the other time it sees an analyst who gave up on his dream to pursue success in his business. In millions and billions of Won… People’s dreams turn into numbers. A piano on a street becomes a window to look into people’s secret desires whose stories become a portrait of a society. Director’s Bio
Jung-min was a TV producer for 10 years and has been an independent director after he completed his master’s degree at CalArts. He shot, edited and directed Black Nam Tag(2008), Living under Highway(2011) and Broken(2013), attracting the attentions of the critics in Korea. Currently he teaches documentary at various universities in Seoul, Korea. This Is Not a Piano is his first feature-length documentary.
Contact
Gary Byung-seok KAM +82 10 2013 8481 garykam@me.com
2014 Rough Cut Sales
History
Aired on MBC (Republic of Korea) 2015
47
Time After Time The time that a girl who is fated to be a shaman in her childhood fights against her fateto make her dream come true desperately.
Director Hyuck-jee PARK
Genres Human
Status(release) In Production
Producer Hyuck-jee PARK
Language Korean
Length 1 x 87min, 1 x 53min
Production HIHARBOR PRODUCTION
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
A ritual is conducted. Su-jin is shaking a bell like it is possessed and her eyes are filled with tears. Spring comes in college campus. Slicked-up Su-jin is talking on the phone to her grandmother. Su-jin hasn't visited her in Hongseong for a while. She finds out the phone number of her mother in six months after she began searching for her mother. Su-jin calls to her mother, yet she couldn't say anything but just listens to mother's voice. She has suffered from chest pain for 3 days. She heads to bus terminal skipping classes. Her boyfriend says goodbye to her at a coffee place. Sujin's senior students ask about her future at a welcome party for the freshman. Classmates treat her as an outcast. She comes back to her room and tries to go to sleep. She hears the news that her father stopped by her room. He left money envelope for her to look for a new place to stay. On the college scholastic ability test day, her grandmother prays with the palms of her hands together in front of the exam place. Directorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bio
Director Hyuck-jee PARK began to make documentaries for TV since 1997. In 2004, he founded his own company Hiharbor Pictures. He won the Best Film Award from KIPA in 2009 and excellent documentary award from KIPDA in 2010. His film With or without you was selected for the IDFA 2013 - Central Pitching and won CGV Art House Distribution Support Prize at JIFF 2015, which was released in cinema in last September. History
CGV Arthouse Award, Docs Port Incheon 2015 48
Contact
Hyuck-jee PARK +82 10 2656 5798 oojooejoo@gmail.com
2015 K-PITCH
To Ok Hee The old man Park, an unconverted long term political prisoner, has lived 53 years in Korea. He is still dreaming to travel Dooman River for he has words to say to his daughter left behind in the North.
Director Woo-nyung JA
Genres Humanism
Status(release) Completed (2017)
Producer Sung-one KIM
Language Korean
Length 1 x 80min
Production Cross Border
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
An eighty old man eats alone and walks alone for twenty years after he served his time in prison. Only his nephew and niece-in-law, ethnic Korean migrants from China, stop by to see him time to time. There are no pictures to look back on, so he writes letters to his deceased wife when he feels lonely and tells why he had to flee to the South leaving behind his 100 day-old baby daughter. Then the film continues to show a letter that Jong-rin PARK, in the 34th year of his time in prison, received from a certain Christian and reminiscing young man who had spent time living together with Jong-rin. It then turns its camera to show the nephew’s wife who has been to Pyeongyang to see Ok Hee, the daughter of the old man, and returns to the man who wishes to go to the border for once his lifetime. At the border where he could see the land of the North Korea, he has words to say to his only daughter. Would he succeed in going there? Director’s Bio
I must be the first forced migrant in Korea. The outskirts of Seoul in my childhood was filled with many flowers until bulldozers crashed in my village and ruined everything. I named this massacre of flowers tearing their faces, leaves, and roots apart a JA Unyeong. It has been an everlasting motive for my arts ever since. Achieved the National Diploma for experimenting films and video arts from École supérieure des beaux-arts de Marseille, France (2011) The Female Pilgrim, a full length documentary (2012) The Vague Border, a short documentary (2013)
Contact
Sung-one KIM +82 10 3428 5150 nuno_79@hanmail.net
2014 Rough Cut Sales
49
Touch A father and a daughter travel around an island together, and separately.
Director Lin-seong KIM
Genres Human interest, Art
Status(release) In production(2016)
Producer Jung-sun CHAE
Language Korean
Length 1 x 75min
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
Lin-seong has been running a hair salon for twenty years. On the other hand, he takes pictures. He calls himself a shaman of photography. He takes photos of whatever he is attracted to. He wants to meet photography beyond his conscience just like a shaman meeting his god. He sometimes does his own performance and ritual putting on clothes of the dead. He finally becomes a real shaman of photography at his own shrine. One day, he visits a hundred year old woman living at Sanga-ri with his daughter Hye-ahn. She tells about the journey around the island. Hey-ahn feels something as she gets close to the old woman. Lin-seong visits another old woman, but she does not recognize Lin-seong and beats him. Lin-seong keeps his work firmly though. He keeps visiting old women and makes a record of their lives. This is how he travels around the island in his own way. Directorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bio
KIM takes photos running a hair salon for 20 years in Jeju Island.
Contact
Lin-seong KIM +82 10 9216 6213 kimrinseong@naver.com
2014 K-PITCH
50
Try To Remember The Story Of KIM Sisters, The Origin Of Hanryu.
Director Dae-hyun KIM
Genres Music
Status(release) Completed
Producer Dae-hyun KIM
Language Korean
Length 1 x 73min
Production INDELINE
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
Nan-young LEE, a famous Korean singer, made herde but at OK Records in the 1930s, and married Hae-song KIM, a genius composer at the time. In 1945, the years of liberation, KPK musical troupe gained popularity with the duo of Nan-young LEE and Hae-song KIM untill KIM got kidnapped to North Korea. During the Korean War, LEE produced Korea’s first vocal girl group “Kim Sisters” with her daughters Suk-ja, Ae-ja and her niece Min-ja who inherited their parents’ musical talent. With the help of LEE’s training effort, “Kim Sisters” caught popularity at the American 8th Army base. They also had a chance to perform in Las Vegas, for the first time as Asians, making strong appeal to Americans. Audience can meet three shy girls who fluently sang songs in English without even knowing the language, through the remembrance of Min-ja in the film. Director’s Bio
Born in 1965, Dae-hyun KIM graduated from Dongguk and Yongin Graduate School for Film Studies after finishing management course at Korea University. He directed many independent films such as A Black Christmas Eve, Bloody Innocent, The Origin of K-Pop and so on. He is currently working as a director and the president of independent film company INDELINE.
Contact
Dae-hyun KIM +82 10 3411 1895 indeline@gmail.com
2015 Rough Cut Sales
History
2016 - DC Independent Film Festival (USA) / ACC World Music Festival (Gwangju, Korea), Atlanta Korean Film Festival (USA) 2015 - Jecheon International Music & Film Festival, Opening Film / EIDF / SIFF
51
A War of Memories A story about finding another way of memory through comparing the memory of the victims of civilian massacre by Korean Army in Vietnam War and of the Vietnam veteran.
Director Bo-ra LEE-KIL
Genres Human, Socio·Political, History
Status(release) In Production(2017)
Producer Bo-ra LEE-KIL, Scarlet Sae-rom SUH
Language Korean, Vietnamese
Length 1 x 90min
Production Nangman Films
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD
Synopsis
In central Vietnam, there are people who live on with the memory of the 1968 massacre. Every year in February, incenses are lit to mourn the dead. The survivors still offer a ‘Taihan (Korean military)’ memorial ceremony on the day when all inhabitants of the village were murdered at an instance. In the 1960s, Korea participated in the Vietnam War as an ally of the United States, where they have massacred many civilians. Yet, Korea only remembers the war as a springboard for its following economic growth. Between Vietnam and Korea, between 1968 and 2016, and between the public memory and the private, there lies the memory of state violence. What cannot become ‘history’ belongs to a ‘woman’, a ‘blind’, and a ‘deaf’. There they remain, kindling incense and offering a ritual for the victims. The first thing these ‘survivors’, ‘second generation’, and ‘witnesses’ did when they visited Korea was to embrace the Korean comfort women and to cry together with the bereaved families of the Sewol ferry disaster. The memories of those who have survived still hover around us, failing to become public memories. The memories of war become the war of memories. Director’s Bio
Bora LEE-KIL is a writer and documentary filmmaker who believes that being born to and raised by her deaf parents have given her the best gift of storytelling. She studied documentary making in the School of Film, TV, and Multimedia at the Korea National University of Arts since 2009. Bora’s most recent work, Glittering Hands (2014), an outcome of a two-year-long production, is an award winning documentary based on the stories told by her and her younger brother, who both grew up moving back and forth between two worlds – one in silence and the other of sounds.
Contact
Bo-ra LEE-KIL +82 10 3470 0025 nangmanfilms@gmail.com
2016 K-PITCH
History
Supported by BIFF - AND Fund, Rhee Yeung Hui Foundation, KOFIC, Seoul Film Commission, Seoul Youth Hub, Korea Foundation For Women
52
The Whispering Trees The four seasons of Mal-hae who wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t allowed to speak
Director Chul-nyung HEO
Genres History, Human interest, Society
Status(release) In production
Producer Yoon-suk JUNG, Sona JO
Language Korean
Length 1 x 95min
Production OPOT Pictures
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
The eighty seven years old woman Mal-hae KIM lives in Dogok village, Miryang city, where the persimmon tree field spreads all over the valley. She is a native Miryang citizen and has never left her hometown in her life. After the linearization in 1945, she dreamed a bright future to come. But the shadow of violence started to hover over her. Directorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bio
HEO studied broadcasting at the Korean National University of Arts and documentary at the graduate school of the same academy. His first feature documentary Remanent People, which delicately portrayed the desire of a family in the midst of redevelopment project in Youngsan area, was invited to compete in the DMZ Docs and Seoul Independent Film Festival in 2012.
Contact
Sona JO +82 10 5608 7273 sona0327@gmail.com
2014 K-PITCH
53
Wind on the Moon Born deaf and blind, Yeji has lived for the last 19 years in the dark. Since there have been magical moments of being connected with her, the mother cannot give up on Yeji.
Director Seung-Jun YI
Genres Human Interest, Observational
Status(release) Completed
Producer Min-Chul KIM
Language Korean
Length 1 x 100min
Production Minch&Films/Bluebird Pictures
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Sales DocAir
Synopsis
Charming the world’s documentary fans with the love story of a deaf blind poet and his soul mate in his previous work Planet of Snail, the director switches the focus to a mother whose daughter was born with the same condition in his new film, Wind on the Moon. Without having seen a ray of light or heard any sound for the last 19 years, Ye-ji’s world seems inexplicable and looks as if she is floating in the space like an astronaut. Still, the mother cannot give up on Ye-ji, since she encountered some magical moments of being connected. The film invites us to a mother and daughter’s journey into finding the words of their own. Director’s Bio
Seung-Jun YI is a filmmaker and has made over a dozen of documentaries for both TV and cinema for the last decade. Among them is Planet of Snail(2012) that has won multiple awards including IDFA’s best feature length documentary and Silverdocs’ Sterling award for Best world feature. As a filmmaker, YI has always been interested in connection between underrepresented individuals. History
Unicef Award at EIDF 2014 IDFA feature length competition 2014 and many more festivals Nationwide cinema released in Korea 2016
54
Contact
Documentary Airways +82 10 7219 0049 docairways@gmail.com
2014 Rough Cut Sales
With or Without You Two women lived for 45 years under one roof as wives of one man. Now they are old and approaching the end of their extraordinary intertwined lives.
Director Hyuck-jee PARK
Genres Human
Status(release) Completed
Producer Kyung-soo HAN
Language Korean
Length 1 x 92min
Production HIHARBOR PRODUCTION
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
After Mag-ee lost two sons due to measles and storms, she brings Chun-hee as a surrogate mother to carry the family name. Chun-hee always makes troubles as she has the mental age of 7 year old girl. Mag-ee lets her do nothing but simple chores like cleaning, Chun-hee never meets her expectation. Later Chun-hee gives birth to two sons and a daughter. She and Magee, however, manage their lives as peasants without her offsprings’ help. One summer day, Magee starts to teach Chun-hee how to count numbers after their neighboring old woman passed away. Chun-hee shows no interest whatsoever. When Mag-ee goes out suddenly, Chun-hee cries all night looking for her. To make things worse, she gets delirious to say awkward things about a picture on the wall and see illusion every night. A doctor says she is mentally sick with dementia. Director’s Bio
PARK started his career making a TV show in 1997. In 2008, he produced a TV show, Asia Theme Travel covering all the course of shooting, directing, writing, editing and narration, which garnered him critical acclaim. In 2009, he directed Family - Look, My Husband’s Wife and received the Best Documentary Award from KIPDA(Korean Independent Producers & Directors’ Association). With or Without You is his first feature-length documentary film.
Contact
Kyung-soo HAN +82 10 4103 5934 handocu@gmail.com
2014 Rough Cut Sales
55
A Wolf in the City “There is no future in the plains anymore.” The story of the son of a nomad who vowed never to live as a nomad anymore
Director Hyo-bong JANG
Genres Human, Social Politics
Status(release) In Production (90%)
Producer Jin-kyung SEO
Language Mongolian
Length 1 x 80min
Production Film Brewers
Country Republic of Korea, Mongolia
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
Jitjitue is a famous wolf hunter in Mongolia. Jitjitue lived in the plains his entire life, but he leaves for the city due to his son Ure's decision. Ure loses everything including his father in the city and returns to the plains in debt. He wants to live in the plains with his family as they used to, however, his son Une does not want to live as a nomad. Ure attempts to dissuade his son, but he insists to leave for the city. Ure dreams of living in the plains, but Une dreams of living in the city. Director’s Bio
He majored in film directing and went off to direct a number of short films. His friendship with Jitjitue’s family of Mongolia whom he first met in 2007 inspired him to focus on documentary filmmaking. He has great interest in the environmental impact on humans. A Wolf in the Fence is his first feature documentary. History
EIDF Korea Documentary Panorama 2016 (Premiered)
56
Contact
Hyo-bong JANG +82 10 8770 9344 hbjang@filmbrewers.com
2014 K-PITCH
Woman Wearing A Baseball Cap A woman wearing a baseball cap. Did she really save her motherland?
Director Mario LEE
Genres Socio·political
Status(release) In Production
Producer Sang-wook LEE
Language Korean
Length 1 x 90min
Production Idaltu Film
Country Republic of Korea
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
National Intelligence Service(NIS) intervened in the presidential election in 2012, and the Supreme Courtin Korea is about to declare NIS is innocent. And there’s a 28-year-old woman in a cap in the scene. She was there at a studio where the operation was being carried out during the election campaign. The operation is alleged to be spreading words against the opposition candidate on the internet. She must’ve chosen proudly to become an NIS official, assigned to the Psychological Operation Squad. She might be an enthusiastic patriot to somebody but a destroyer of democracy to others. What she really is? This documentary traces the truth of 43 hours when she stayed at the studio on the lock which took every eye of Korean citizens just several days before the voting. Director’s Bio
LEE has made documentaries since he began his career at the Seoul Visual Collective in 1998. He is also experienced in policy issues, and problems surrounding independent films and videos while he was on the managing board of the Association of Korean Independent Film and Video. LEE’s documentary, Rip It Up!(2001) was invited to SIFF and Taiwan Documentary Film Festival. Since then, he has continuously made documentaries such as Mad Minutes(2003), To Die or to Leave – Migrant Workers Interview Project(2004),16 Takes on Korean Society(2006), and Into the Breeze(2008).
Contact
Mario LEE +82 10 7652 1985 nevermind.docu@gmail.com
2015 K-PITCH
57
DOCS PORT INCHEON ASIAN PROJECTS 2014 - 2016 58
58
12 Wives Yustin is against polygamy in a culture where it is part of daily life.
Director Tonny TRIMARSANTO
Genres Socio¡political
Status(release) In Production
Producers Mandy MARAHIMIN,
Language Sumbanese
Length 1 x 90min
Country Indonesia
Format HD l Color
John BADALU, Nicholas SAPUTRA
Synopsis
Ma'a marries Adi after a short courtship through Facebook, and left her career behind. Adi comes from the big family of Umbu Laka who has 12 wives, 58 children, and 220 grandchildren. Ma'a is surprised to be in Adi's big family and is trying to adjust to a life in the family Directorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bio
Plastic Pottery (Best Film, Indonesia Documentary Film Festival 2002), The Dream Land (Excellence Award, Earth Vision Tokyo International Film Festival 2003), Renita Renita (Best Asian Short Cinemanila International Film Festival and Best Film Culture Unplugged Film Festival India, 2007), Serambi (Cannes Film Festival Un Certain Regard 2006).
Contact
Tonny TRIMARSANTO +62 81 5925 6503 rumahdokumenter@gmail.com Mandy MARAHIMIN +62 813 8091 7133 mm@tanakhir_lms.com
2015 A-PITCH
59
Absent without Leave Those in love with this land were deported, those in love with each other were departed. This is a film about their loss of love.
Director LAU Kek Huat
Genres Socio-political, History
Status(release) Completed (06/2016)
Producer Stefano CENTINI
Language Chinese, Fuzhou, Malay
Length 1 x 90min
Production Hummingbird Productions
Country Taiwan
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
This story begins with a man’s portrait hanging in my family home in Malaysia. The identity of this man has always been a taboo, until one day I discovered it was my grandfather, whose identity was hidden from me because he was a member of the Malaysian Communist Party. This is a journey to discover the secret history of my country through the eyes of my grandfather. Director’s Bio
Lau Kek Huat was born and brought up in Malaysia, but then worked as primary school teacher for 4 years in Singapore. In 2006, he enrolled in film studies at the National Taiwan University. He has twice won the Best Short Film Award at the Taiwan Golden Harvest Festival, and the Best Director Award in 2009. His latest film Nia door won Best Short Film Award, Sonje Award in BIFF, selected for 38th Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival.
Contact
Stefano CENTINI +88 69 7064 8340 stefano.cn267@gmail.com
2015 A-PITCH
History
Screened at BIFF 2016 (Int’l Premiere), Doc Spirit Award, Docs Port Incheon 2015 Supported by New Taipei City, Taiwan Arts Council, BIFF - AND 2015
60
Arks of Confucius For the first time in history, the Chinese Greek go out of Chinatown to help refugees. Can ‘Chinese methods’ help?
Director Sean Wang Producer Jia Zhao
Genres Ethnography,
Social·political, Immigration Language Chinese
Status(release) In Production Length 1 x 90min Format HD, 4K and more
Countries China, Netherlands
Synopsis
Nearly two decades ago illegal Chinese immigrants came to Greece along the similar route as the current refugees. In the meanwhile Greece has become their second home. Led by Ms Chen, a kind of ‘big-sis’ type, the Chinese organize a volunteer team to help refugees - for the first time in European history, the Chinese go out of their comfort zone Chinatown to defend the country they love, in their Chinese ways. Will their actions help to build up a new symbiosis between Greek, Chinese and the new-comers on the Greek earth? Director’s Bio
Sean Wang is a Chinese Muslim director/screenwriter and holds MA for screenplay at BFA China. His debut film Huis Away From Home (2014) about Muslim’s immigration in China won a.o. the Best Student Film by the China Documentary Academy. His short documentary Chinese Canvasser (2015) was nominated a.o. for CCDF, GZDOC and China Documentary Academy Award.
Contact
Jia ZHAO +31 6 5358 8758 jiazhao98@hotmail.com
2016 A-PITCH
61
Blondie An ex-prostitute and her daughter try to escape the lure of the "easy" life of Pampanga's Red Light District.
Director Pabelle Manikan
Genres Socio.Political
Status(release) Pre-Production
Producer Wena Sanchez
Language Filipino
Length 1 x 100min
Countries Philippines
Format HD
Synopsis
At a young age of 16, Amy was already dancing in the clubs of Pampanga, the Red Light District of the Philippines famous for its worldwide sex tourism. A year later, Amy met a German customer and became pregnant with her first child, Tisay (Blondie). Now 34 years old, Amy has 9 children (all not under her care), jobless, and struggling to have a better life. Trying all her might to stay away from the red light district and drugs. Meanwhile, her daughter Tisay just turned 18 and is excited of her future. She plans to find work (any work) after she graduates from High School. She hopes to marry a foreigner at the age of 20 just so she could easily escape poverty. We see two women trying to get out of the invisible trap theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re in. What does it take to get out of the trap? Directorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bio
Pabelle Manikan is a documentary filmmaker based in Manila, Philippines. After college, she made her first documentary short Dawn of Hope (2012) that was funded by the Goethe Institut in Manila and was part of the DocNet Summer School workshop. She has made projects for both local and international TV stations such as ABS-CBN, Al Jazeera, Thomson Reuters. She has also edited On the Brink and Crescent Rising both full-length documentary full-length that are awarded and recognized internationally.
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Contact
Wena Sanchez +63 91 6523 3064 wenna.sanchez@gmail.com
2016 A-PITCH
Border Bride In the rainforest between China and South East Asian, young women cross the border to sell themselves to Chinese husbands.
Director WANG Bing
Genres Human, Economic, Geography
Status(release) In Production
Producer Isabelle GLACHANT
Country Hong Kong
Length 1 x 120min
Production Chinese Shadows
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
Ani, 23 years old woman, crosses the border into China to look for a Chinese husband. Her search around different valley near the border takes us to encounter and discover many others East Asian women living with people they don’t speak the language of, or seeking a husband too. On the Chinese side, those border brides are the last chance for many men to get married… Director’s Bio
Born in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, China, in 1967, WANG Bing studied photography at the Lu Xun Academy of Fine Art (1992) and cinematography at Beijing Film Academy (1995). He began his independent filmmaking career in 1999.
Contact
LIANG Ying +86 186 1407 5857 ying@chineseshadows.com
2014 A-PITCH
63
Border within Border In one of world’s last stateless lands trapped on India-Bangladesh borderland, documentary follows one ordinary family’s bizarre journey in search of nation against all odds, where they’re born without citizenship.
Director Debanjan SENGUPTA Producers Debanjan SENGUPTA,
Subhadeep GHOSH Production Paperplane Films,
Anyakonokhane Films
Genres Character-driven Narrative,
Human Interest, Socio-political Language Kamtapuri (a local vernacular),
Status(release) In Production Length 1 x 75min Format HD l Color
Bengali & Hindi with English Subtitles Country India
Synopsis
Intimately, the film uncovers hitherto untold story of an ordinary illiterate brick-maker, who’s been caught in bizarre geopolitical limbo since birth. Kofur, 38, has nothing – no passport, no birth certificate, not even a document to prove his citizenship. He doesn’t belong to any country or nation. Abandoned by the states, both India and Bangladesh deny him an identity and the most fundamental human right of citizenship. Being victims of 1947 Partition, destitute Kofur and his family, like others of his enclave community, are condemned to live like a forever fugitive, under perpetual fear of trespassing into foreign territory just to earn a living. But without trespassing, how’d Kofur survive? Trapped in such absurd predicament, hapless Kofur yet longs deep for human dignity. The film traces his search for a nation and unfolds his desperate drive for citizenship, while enclave people’s movement brews up across international border in demand for citizenship and democracy. But, will Kofur’s dream ever come true? Director’s Bio
Debanjan is independent documentary-maker based in Calcutta. He studied Economics and Film at Calcutta University, started his career as TV journalist and involved in making documentaries since 2000. Produced and directed factual television programs on current affairs and short documentaries on contemporary social themes. Besides, directed/co-produced few international documentary projects is his first feature documentary.
Contact
Debanjan SENGUPTA +91 94 3267 0119 dbanjan@gmail.com
2014 A-PITCH
History
DMZ Docs Fund 2015, Docedge Kolkata 2015(BMG Special Award), Good Pitch2 India 2014, Docedge Kolkata 2013 - Most Developed Project 64
Cecilia Cecilia is the story of struggle for justice of a help whose daughter is trafficked and found dead in Delhi.
Director Pankaj JOHAR
Genres Socio·political
Status(release) Completed
Producer Pankaj JOHAR
Language Hindi
Length 1 x 83min
Production Penny Wise Films Pvt Ltd
Country India
Format HD l Color
Sales Journeyman Films
Synopsis
Cecilia hails from India’s neglected tribal belt and works as a housekeeper in New Delhi. When her 14 year old daughter is trafficked and found dead in a house in Delhi, she decides to fight for justice with the help of her employers Pankaj and Sunaina. But in a country where thousands of tribal children get trafficked every year to cities and many never found, the road to justice seems long and slow. As the three battle corruption at all levels, they soon find themselves navigating a complex network of cops, traffickers, judges, lawyers, villagers and family members. When Cecilia’s husband is kidnapped and her two sons are forced to leave the village, she begins to lose all hope. With the pressure from traffickers mounting, Cecilia eventually ends up taking the money from traffickers and withdraws the case from the court. She goes back to her village hoping to start a new life. But instead, she takes to alcohol and 6 months later succumbs to liver failure. Director’s Bio
A one time financial consultant Pankaj left his lucrative job to pursue his passion for film. He worked as a television producer for 8 years before founding his own production company in 2008. His work has been funded and supported by organisations like IDFA Bertha Fund, Sundance Institute , Norwegian Film Institute (SORFOND), BRITDOC, Why Foundation (Denmark) and The Guardian (UK).
Contact
Pankaj Johar +91 99 5889 1918 pankaj@pennywisefilms.com
2015 A-PITCH
History
IDFA 2015, Cleveland International Film Festival, One World Prague, DokFest Munchen, Films from the South Norway, DocPoint Helsinki, Kasseler Dokfest, Iran Cinema Verite and many more 65
Confucian Dream A young mother recites Chinese classics with her son to cultivate moral wisdom but when her dream turns to nightmare, can she follow Confucius' teachings?
Director Mijie LI
Genres Art&Culture
Status(release) In Production(06/2017)
Producer Mijie LI
Language Chinese
Length 1 x 90min
Country China
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
Seeing a westernized China losing its fundamental moral values, a young mother decides to educate her 3-year-old son with Confucianism, believing that’s how he’d learn to love and be happy. She leads him through daily reading rituals and tries to send him away to a Confucian boarding school. But her plan infuriates her husband and leaves the son confused and caught in a family drama. In the end, she took everyone’s happiness away including her own and torn the family apart. On the verge of having a divorce, she finally starts to understand the loving essence of Confucianism. Will she love her son in a different way? How can she bring happiness back to her family? This is a story about a profound lesson of love and relationship. Director’s Bio
As a student at Tongji University, Shanghai, Mijie Li’s student films were finalists in several festivals, including the 12th Beijing College Student Film Festival. Upon graduation, she worked with Lixin Fan as the production manager for his short film Free Lunch, and with Jessica Yu as the assistant local producer for Misconception. Li studied Social Documentary at the School of Visual Arts in New York City before returning to China to work on Confucian Dream. Also. she is working as a director of researcher for Eyesteel Film Inc.. Her short film Hollywood Bob will screen in 11th edition of Marbella International Film Festival, ProxyAct International Film Festival 2016, Doc Sunback Film Festival 2016, IndieWise Virtual Festival 2017.
Contact
2015 A-PITCH
History
IDFAcademy Editing Lab 2016 / Nominee for Best Pitch, DocedgeKolkata 2016 / Best Asian Pitch, Docs Port Incheon 2015 66
Mijie Li +86 151 2103 0608 Jamie.mijie@gmail.com
The Dirty Dream The Dirty Dream captures the humorous and poignant story of 26-year old Manish Kumar, as he hopes to become India’s first ‘entertainment’ wrestling millionaire - and the making or breaking of this collective dream.
Directors Sushmit GHOSH, Rintu THOMAS
Genres Sports
Status(release) In Production (01/2017)
Producers Sushmit GHOSH, Rintu THOMAS
Language Hindi (English subtitles)
Length 1 x 55min
Country India
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
For 8 years, Manish Kumar has been training a feisty group of men and women as entertainmentwrestling superstars. Just before their biggest and most ingeniously put together wrestling event, Manish is staring at dwindling finances, capricious sponsors and an arranged marriage – as they stand between him and his last chance to live his dream of becoming India’s first millionaire wrestling entrepreneur. Bringing a humorous story to life, The Dirty Dream portrays interlocking stories of young Indians as they live through a face-off between India’s traditional and modern values, as they snub a life of ordinariness in their passionate quest for personal glory. Will they succeed? Or will they follow in the footsteps of their parents to become a part of the great Indian middle-class? Director’s Bio
Sushmit GHOSH and Rintu THOMAS are independent filmmakers, based in New Delhi, India. They founded Black Ticket Films in 2009 and have directed and produced films on themes ranging from human rights and environment to public health and sustainable livelihoods. Sushmit and Rintu’s films have received several international awards, been broadcast on TV and are also used as tools of advocacy and public-engagement.
Contact
Sushmit GHOSH +91 98 1142 6264 sushmit@blackticketfilms.com
2015 A-PITCH
History
Best Pitch Award, DocedgeKolkata, India, 2015
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God BLISS Our Home A local migrant filmmaker goes home to his province but his dream in the big city is holding him back.
Director Nawruz PAGUIDOPON Producer Sinae Ha
Genres Local Migration, Social,
Status(release) Editing &
Economic Injustice
Post-production (01/2017)
Productions&Sales
Language Tagalog & English
Length 1 x 75min & 1 x 52min
Pananaw Studio & BODA Media Group
Countries Philippines,
Format HD l Color
Republic of Korea
Synopsis
God BLISS Our Home is an animation documentary about a local immigrant filmmaker who lives in an ageing housing project named BLISS built during the time of the Marcoses in Manila. Struggling for ten years to find a better living condition despite the changing landscape of sprouting residential condominiums in and around the metro, a sign of a booming Philippine economy, he decides to go home. As he is able to make ends meet, partners with neighbors and pay for that very last rent, will he fights and decides to extend more? Directorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bio
Nawruz PAGUIDOPON grew up in Cagayan de Oro City, Mindanao and took college in Manila at the University of the Philippines. He took Fine Arts and took a film for a second degree. He is a currently a freelance graphic artist and filmmaker. He hopes to pursue a film project set in a sub-genre History
Contact
Nawruz PAGUIDOPON +63 92 2829 1170 newyear_19@yahoo.com Si-nae HA +82 10 6282 6995 lilyyapd@gmail.com
2014 A-PITCH With Support of Korea Communication Agency, Film Development Council of The Philippines Co-produced by NHK (Japan) / National Geographic Channel Korea Pitched at DocedgeKolkata India 2016 Doc Spirit Award, Docs Port Incheon 2014
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In Search of Lost Time An old instrument craftsman had been diagnosed with a terminal heart disease and has at most 1 year to live. With very little time left in his life, he embarks on an unknown journey to fulfill his last will...
Directors OTA Shingo
Genres Socio-Political, Art&Culture
Status(release) In Production
Producer CHANG Chih-Wei
Language Japanese
Length 1 x 90min
Production Midnight Call Production Inc.
Country Japan
Format HD
Synopsis KAWAI Masao, a 76 year-old musical instrumental craftsman, who grew up in a discriminated community called “Buraku” in Japanese, a place where outcast group at the bottom of the Japanese social order used to live. Masao suffered from discrimination and violence, just because he was born in “Buraku". Therefore, music was the only thing that helped him getting through all the hardships. Masao has been making musical instruments for a living for over 40 years. To him, music was never a business, fashion nor trend. Instead, Music is a tool to connect different materials and different identities. One day, Masao was diagnosed with a terminal heart disease and has at most 1 year to live. With very little time left in his life, Masao is desperate to restore the broken relationship of one set of brothers (his nephews) whom he grew up with, Enichiro (66), Megumi (64) and Yoshitaka (63). The three of them were once all members of a famous Rock and Roll band called “Darega KaBa yanen Rock’n Roll SHOW”, until Yoshitaka was arrested for using Marijuana, in which ultimately caused the band to break-up because of it. Furious at their baby brother’s unforgiving behavior, the older brothers broke ties with Yoshitaka ever since then. And so now, Masao’s last wish is to reunite the brothers and help them perform on stage together once again… Director’s Bio
OTA Shingo, born in Nagano Prefecture in 1985. His work, The End of The Special Time We Were Allowed, a documentary seven years in the making that confronts the suicide of a friend, was nominated for a New Asian Currents Award at the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival 2013. As a filmmaker, Shingo was selected for the Talent Campus Tokyo 2013. Also active as a stage actor, working with the prestigious theater troupe Chelfitsch, including stages across Asia and North America. In addition, Shingo’s first feature film, Fragile, had its world premiere in the Japanese Cinema Splash Section and was nominated for a Best Picture Award at the Tokyo International Film Festival 2014.
Contact
CHANG Chih-Wei +82 10 8250 9286 aa72727@gmail.com
2016 A-PITCH
History Supported by DMZ Docs Fund / Taiwan Korea Film, Culture and Arts Association Investment Space Shower Networks Inc.
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The Iron Legs A Tearful Journey of a Lesbian Coach with her Women`s Football Team from a small province of Cambodia
Director Vanna HEM
Genres Socio-Political, Sports
Status(release) In Production
Producers Mary Katherine OLSEN,
Language Khmer
Length 1 x 72min
Countries Cambodia, Netherlands, Norway
Format HD
Robert Wilox
Synopsis Ms. Van Sovan, 56, is a lesbian working in the Department of Youth, Sport and Education and has been in charge of the provincial youth sport as a football coach in Cambodia, for the past seven (7) years. Since she was a young girl, she has always had an extraordinary passion for football. However, football was one of many sports and entertainments that were completely banned by the Khmer Rouge (1975-1979), especially for young women. Throughout 2011 and 2013, Sovan crated a Lesbian Football team, one and only of its kind in the country. In spite of their talents, hard training and multiple victories, however, the team struggles with limited financial resources as well as social, cultural prejudices, verbal abuses, public humiliations and discriminations against the lesbian footballers. The spring of 2016, the team has come in the third place in their home province and is qualified to compete in the national championship league which is scheduled to take place in Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia in October this year… The biggest challenges and fear, however, they do not have sufficient fund to transport or accommodate all the competent players throughout the championship in Phnom Penh… Director’s Bio
Director Vanna HEM, born in Kampong Chnnang, Cambodia. He went through basic documentary filmmaking training at META house, German Cultural Centre Phnom Penh and Goethe Institute. Having been inspired by compelling issues and stories of human rights, human trafficking, sex workers, the disabled and LGBTs in his impoverished home country of Cambodia, he is today one of the most celebrated, young documentary filmmakers in Cambodia, and is totally dedicated to dissemination and raising awareness for the marginalised people of Cambodia through his various award-winning short documentary films. His previous works include among others Too Late to Change (2012), Two Lives One Heart (2012), Where is the Horizon (2013) and Lives Under the Red Light (2014).
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Contact
Mary Katherine OLSEN +47 4073 6463 mo1625@mkimedia.no History Supported by PINK, Trut Fond Investment MKI Media
2016 A-PITCH
The Last Days of Tsukiji The Tsukuji Fish Market will be relocated in 2016. A former fashion editor records a year in the life of the market's characters..
Director Minoru OKADA
Naomi KAZAMA Producer Naomi KAZAMA
Genres Human, Social issues,
Lifestyle, Art&Culture Language Japanese
Status(release) In Production Length 1 x 50/60 min Format HD l Color
Country Japan
Synopsis
Kyoko FUKUCHI is a former fashion editor who swapped the world of fashion for long rubber boots. Fascinated by the workers at Tsukiji - Japan’s largest fish market - she is now a supervisor of the market's library. In 2016, however, the market will relocate. It’s a turning point for the traders who have kept the market going for the past 80 years. Some are struggling to find successors to keep their business going, others are quitting in the face of financial difficulty, while some are looking for alternative sales channels overseas. Kyoko documents the traders’ lives in the market's final year. Director’s Bio
Minoru OKADA Minoru has directed numerous TV programs relating to food culture. He has specialized knowledge on the fishing industry, agriculture and distribution. The programs he directed about tuna fishing are well known in Japan. Naomi KAZAMA Naomi specializes in documentaries and variety programs. She has won audience awards at film festivals in the US and Germany with the fillm Do You Know What My Name Is?, which was also officially submitted to the 87th Academy Awards in the US. Her DVD, Yuzuru Hanyu: Time of Awakening, broke a DVD sales record which had stood since 1999.
Contact
Minoru OKADA Okadamin0729@yahoo.co.jp Naomi KAZAMA +81 3 3547 4810 nkazama@hotmail.co.jp
2015 A-PITCH
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A Letter to Jejara A story of 14 years old Buddhist NUN “EAINDRA WADI” from NAGA Land who wants to go University of Medicine to become First Ever Buddhist NUN doctor in Myanmar.
Director Sein Lyan TUN
Genres Socio.Political, Art&Culture
Status(release) Pre-Production
Producer Sein Lyan TUN
Language Burmese
Length 1 x 65min
Production PS Films Production
Country Myanmar
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
In Myanmar, Religious is very sensitive subject. According to the Buddha Law, NUN can only learn Buddha Literature. A NUN could not go to any of Career Development Institute or Universities. A 14 years old Buddhist NUN, EAINDRA WADI, comes from NAGA Land where can be considered one of the most uneducated and backward people ethnic groups in Myanmar. When she was 5 years old, her parents divorced and left her with Grand-mother. She decided to become a NUN to get free monastic education at NUN Monastery. After 2 years in NUN-Monastery in village, her Headmaster-NUN decided to send her to Yangon “YAMONENAR" NUN-Monastery to study further. Her aim is to become a NUN-Doctor. As being a NUN, She wants to study at University of Medicine and she want to become first ever NUN-Doctor. Will she get a chance to go University of Medicine being a NUN? Will Buddha discipline be changed for Buddhist NUN to become a NUN doctor? Director’s Bio
Sein Lyan TUN is an award winning filmmaker. He won the awards from China, Southeast Asia and Central Asia. He is focusing to make documentaries and short films about youth and women concern with education, child labor, abuse & human trafficking. He hopes that by using media tool, it will be more receptive and forthcoming in equipping themselves. He is also script supervisor and program director for Samsung Scholarship TV Program which was shown in every Saturday at 4pm MRTV4 Myanmar National Television Channel since 2014. He found PS Film production and working with international production company to produce documentaries. 72
Contact
Sein Lyan TUN +95 9532 1312 seinlyantun@gmail.com
2016 A-PITCH
Ma Liang's Time Machine To express his profound love and admiration for his aging father, the artist Ma Liang invents a "time machine" in hopes of preserving his father's declining memory.
Director SUN Yang
Genres Art & Culture, Human
Producer S. Leo CHIANG
Interest, Aging/Senior Language Chinese (Mandarin)
Status(release) In Production(12/2017) Length 1 x 80 min, 1 x 55 min Format HD l Color
Country China
Synopsis
When Shanghai artist Ma Liang realizes that his father, an accomplished Chinese Opera director and the major influence in his life, is suffering from dementia, he embarks on his most ambitious project to date--a life-size mechanical puppet performance called the Time Machine. Through the building of his “time machine,” Ma Liang travels back to the times he and his father have experienced together to celebrate the unbreakable bond between a father and a son… and between two generations of Chinese artists. Director’s Bio
SUN Yang is a documentary director and cameraman. He is on staff at China's Central Newsreel and Documentary Film Studio, making documentaries for broadcasters including CCTV, Youku and the Travel Channel. He has directed several short and mid-length documentaries, including The Second Album, Aken, After He Roseto Fame, as well as the ten-part series Take Me to Travel. He worked as a director of photography on A Century with Nanjing, Century Master, and South of the Ocean. SUN Yang holds a Masters degree from the School of Television and Film Art at the Communication University of China.
Contact
S. Leo CHIANG +1 323 899 5556 leochiang@me.com
2015 A-PITCH
History
Pitched at CNEX Chinese Documentary Forum / IDFA Forum / Sheffield MeetMarket Supported by Sundance Documentary Fund, Catapult Film Fund
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My China A journey into Chinese society, politic, history, architecture and family through the personal view of a Chinese artist, Wang Xiaoshuai
Director WANG Xiaoshuai Producer Isabelle GLACHANT Production Chinese Shadows
Genres Socio-Political,
History, Art&Culture Language Chinese
Status(release) In Production Length 1 x 90min Format HD
Country China
Synopsis Beijing 2016, at the center of the city and of the country: Tian An Men square, where Chinese families and collective History is deeply mixed. Near by Beijing office workers, who tight into small boxes, seem like prisoner of their social condition. The stock market aficionados alienated by their red and green board, as if praying for the God of money. At the corner of a street, the old Bejing, with empty half destroyed family old courtyards. While in new suburb communities old men try to maintain friendly neighbors bird singing contest. Escaping the capital, the train follows the landscapes getting into another China that most Chinese people come from… Going through the countryside where drought and earthquakes have slowly made it difficult for men to live, we stop by factories and mine where most families had, at a time or another, to give their health and time. We go through Mongolia, Xinjiang, Sichuan… By standing at the crossroad of present changes and disappearing past myth, we will rediscover the evolving history of Chinese families and the collective ‘biography’ and memoir of China. Landscape, culture, story and History slowly forms a unique yet fascinating China, WANG Xiaoshuai’s My China. Director’s Bio
Graduated from the Beijing Film Academy, Wang Xiaoshuai directed his first feature The Days (1993). Acclaimed, the film is soon blacklisted and banned in China. He directed Frozen in 1995 under the pseudo Wu Ming (Without a name); the film was awarded Special mention of the jury in Rotterdam. So Close To Paradise (1998) and Drifters (2003) were selected for Un certain regard in Cannes. His fifth feature, Beijing Bicycle won the Grand Jury Silver Bear and Best Young Actor Prize in 2001 in Berlin. In 2005, Shanghai Dreams selected for competition in Cannes won the Jury Prize. In 2008, In Love We Trust won Silver Bear best screenplay award in Berlin. Followed 11 Flowers, the first SinoFrench official co-production presented in Competition in San Sebastian. His 10th film Red Amnesia opened in Competition in Venice in 2014.
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Contact
Isabelle GLACHANT +86 186 1004 2839 ziyi@chineseshadows.com
2016 A-PITCH
My Dear Lines A talented girl working as waitress developed a unique method of painting to express her sub-consciousness, through which she overcome the real world to be herself.
Director ZHANG Nan
Genres Art, Gender, Reality
Status(release) Post-production (04/2017)
Producers Ruby CHEN, ZHANG Yong
Language Chinese
Length 1 x 95min, 1 x52min
Productions CNEX Studio,
Country China
Format HD l Color
Doc U Media & Culture Ltd., DR, Ming Times Sales First Hand Films, CNEX Studio
Synopsis
For fifteen years, our character Ji moved around in several big cities, living in a basement, supporting herself and her parents working as a waitress in a dining hall for 130 dollars a month, and dreaming of a stable life. However what she found was that her happiness wasn’t rooted in economic freedom but rather through her art. As a female migrant laborer struggling to survive, Ji had no role models to develop as an artist. In fact, she’s neither an academic nor a trained artist. She has nowhere to fit in. She’s an outsider. Director’s Bio
ZHANG Nan is an Independent filmmaker. Born in 1986, He graduated from China Communication University in 2011. He worked as CCNFSG documentary director for CCTV9 for 3 years. History
Contact
ZHANG Yong +86 186 2188 1776 zhangyong@pangopictures.com
2014 A-PITCH
ASD2015 - Best Chinese Project SSD2015 - Special Mention Award CCDF2014 - two recommended awards CNEX - Sundance workshop 2014 CZDOC2014 - Top 12 projects with Most Market Potential
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The Priestess Walks Alone Bound by their painful past, a mother and a daughter go on a journey in an attempt to find salvation.
Director HUANG Hui-chen
Genres Human Interest
Status(release) Completed (03/2016)
Producer Diana Chiawen LEE
Country Taiwan
Length 1 x 52min Format HD l Color
Synopsis
The Priestess Walks Alone is a journey, our journey. As a priestess, through chants and prayers during the “Soul Guiding” ceremony, my mom helps the dead achieve salvation, but she is bound to her painful past, unable to free herself. As a filmmaker, using images and sounds that unfold on the screen, I tell stories for the voiceless, yet I’m muted by a shameful secret, afraid to reveal the truth. With different mediums, caught between the living and the dead, as the past and present collide, my mom and I embark on a journey, attempting to find our salvation. Director’s Bio
Hui-chen is an activist, documentary filmmaker, and fulltime mom. Prior to working in film, Hui-chen worked for NGOs advocating for labor rights and social justice. During this time she began documenting the plight of the disadvantaged and the voiceless. Her intimate profiles of the less fortunate and the exploited became tools for social change. History
Aired on Inside Lens, NHK World, 2016
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Contact
Diana Chiawen LEE +886 978 052 816 dianachiawenlee@gmail.com
2014 A-PITCH
Red Clothes Red Clothes explores the journey of a family of young garment worker who is not only fighting a hardship life in agriculture but also fighting an impending tragedy emerges due to a brutal crackdown on peaceful civil disobedience.
Director Lida CHAN
Genres Socio.political
Status(release) Completed
Producer Lida CHAN
Language Khmer
Length 1 x 63min
Country Cambodia
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
SOPHANITH, a young peasant, challenged by the uncertainty of farming, left behind his old mother alone at the village to join the thriving garment industry for expensive brands like Gap, H&M and Levi’s in Phnom Penh city. However, a bizarre monthly wage of 80$ does not allow them a basic living. The protest against the oppressively hardnosed exploitations gains momentum. While parading in solidarity with thousands of workers, Sophanith is shot by police bullets. He is deprived of normal way of life and now negotiating a nightmare of amputation of his injured leg. He goes back to the village after surgery but the grim reality of agriculture pushes him back to the city. The state crackdown appears vicious. The compulsion of survival drives the workers help rolling the mighty apparel factories’ wheels, plentifully, slogging day and night. Now SOPHANITH is in dilemma – whether to continue living dangerously in the city or go back again to the village. Director’s Bio
Lida CHAN is a 36 years old Cambodian documentary film director and producer. She first approached her filmmaking in 2010 by working with Cambodian-French filmmaker and producer Rithy PANH. She was then a fellow of Sundance Institute and IDFA Academy. Her films focus on Cambodia’s history and contemporary society. Her documentary film Red Wedding has received in 2012 a prize in IDFA.
Contact
Lida CHAN +855 8950 8920 lidachan@yahoo.fr
2015 A-PITCH
History
Prize for Asian Perspective Award DMZ Docs 2016 (World Premiere) Pitched at DMZ Docs 2015 / Docs Port Incheon 2015 / Dare to Dream(Bali) 2015
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The Ring Road In an expropriation site, two migrant workers turn hellish situation into a sarcastic comedy despite their greedy boss and mafia.
Director TRAN Phuong Thao
Genres Socio.Political
Status(release) In Production
Producer Swann DUBUS
Language Vietnamese
Length 1 x 90min
Production Varan Vietnam Media and
Country Vietnam
Format HD
Production Audiovisual Company Limited
Synopsis A popular neighborhood of Hanoi is being entirely demolished to build a huge highway crossing the city from end to end. Huy and Quyen, two forty-year-old workers coming from rural provinces of NorthVietnam, are working night and day tearing down houses to extract iron from the reinforced-concrete of the building structures. Sleeping in the street, despised by the urban population, harassed by thieves, racketed by local gangsters... their living conditions are hellish. Despite the hardships, Huy and Quyen manage to enjoy some aspects of this life - freed from family and marital obligations. They never wallow in self-pity and rather turn their lives into an absurd, dark and bitter comedy. Humor and self-mockery seem to be the only act of resistance they are allowed. After six months of intense work, they will go back to their village to celebrate Têt (the Lunar New Year) with their families. To do so, they try everything to collect the wages due from their boss, a vain Hanoian businessman. If they cannot achieve this task, they will face the shame of returning to their village penniless. Director’s Bio
TRAN Phuong Thao (b. 1977) moved to France in 2000 to complete her dream of being a documentary filmmaker. After graduated in Political Science in Paris, TRAN Phuong Thao studied documentary film technics and writing in Poitiers University. Back to Vietnam, she directed Workers Dream which attended many international festivals and was awarded at Cinéma du Réel 2007 (P. Perrault Award). Since 2011, she has directed several documentary projects in collaboration with Swann Dubus including With or without me - White Goose Award at DMZ Docs 2012, and Finding Phong - Grand Prix Nanouk - Jean Rouch at 34 International Festival Jean Rouch 2015. History DMZ Docs Fund 2016
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Contact
TRAN Phuong Thao +84 9 8909 5856 tpthao1977@yahoo.fr
2016 A-PITCH
A Road of Prayer As change comes to a popular kora (religious circumambulation) route, three people must make decisions that will affect not only their own fates, but also those of the kora and this ancient city.
Director Tenzinsedon Producer Ming
Genres Art&Culture, Religion,
Human Interests Language Tibetian, Chinese
Status(release) In Production Length 1x65min Format HD
Country China
Synopsis People say you can find happiness and tranquility on the peaceful Tsekor kora, the circumambulation around the Potala Palace in the ancient city of Lhasa. Meet three different people whose very livelihoods revolve around the Tsekor kora: one, an elderly man who carries on his back a basket of boiled beans to sell to pilgrims and devotees as a snack. Another, a young man from an inland Chinese city who runs a merchandise stall along the kora and makes good money. Finally, a girl from a Tibetan village that is attracted to the life here and starts to work in a teahouse along the kora. But as the kora gets over-crowded, the urban management police begin to drive the peddlers away. The elderly bean-seller is one of them. The young stall owner has gradually grown tired of this lifestyle and yearns for more. The village girl learns that her teahouse will soon be closed down, and she doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know where to turn. The fates of these three are intertwined with that of the kora they live off of. But times are changing: will they decide to stay and continue to earn a living along the Tsekor, or leave it for something else? Will they even have such a choice? Directorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bio
Tenzinsedon was born in Lhasa, Tibet. After graduating from Donghua University(Media-making &Communication)in Shanghai and Plymouth University(Media Arts)in the UK. She returned to Tibet and start working as an independent documentary filmmaker. Her previous documentary films include The Horses and Horseman and A Taste of Life, and have won many awards such as News and Short Feature category of the RTS Student Television Awards for Devon&Cornwall and the Golden Mountain Awards for documentary short films at Zhenjiang International Film Festival, as well as nominations for AL Jazeera International Documentary Film Festival and China Academy Awards for Documentary Films.
Contact
Tenzinsedon +173 1082 4272 m13501864547@163.com
2016 A-PITCH
History Pitched at CCDF 2016
79
Ruby Land Who can enjoy the Taste of Ruby?
Director SHIN Daewe
Genres Social, Environment
Status(release) Post-production
Producer THU Thu Shein
Language Myanmar
Length 1 x 65min
Production Third Floor film production
Country Myanmar
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
Mogok valley is the beautiful region where the mountains are surrounding. Also the product of that region is the precious ruby. The mountainsides were dug by bulldozers. It was like a piece of cake cut off with a knife. In the whole world, the price of ruby keeps going up, but people in Mogok remain poor and feel bitter and sorry and Mogko is ugly. Some have decided to move to other regions but who will refuse that fact there are precious stones beneath their houses? In this way they continue to live in Mogok. Directorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bio
SHIN Daewe aka Cho ChoHnin was born in Yangon at 1973. When she was in the university, she became a poet. Since 2006, she has attended filming training and workshop at Yangon Film School. Since then she has pursued making documentary films. She got the best documentary award from Freedom Film Festival 2013 (Myanmar), Wathan Film Festival 2013 and also 2014 (Myanmar) and Sliver Award from KKIFF 2014(Malaysia). History
Dare to Dream(Bali) 2015
80
Contact
SHIN Daewe +95 9 503 7078 asiadaewe@gmail.com
2014 A-PITCH
The Silent Teacher Death or life may not depend on the flesh, but how much love a soul can show to the world.
Director Maso CHEN
Genres Emotion, Philosophy, Medicine
Status(release) Post-Production (03/2017)
Producer Ging LEE
Language Chinese
Length 1 x 73min
Production Classic Vision Co., Ltd.
Country Taiwan
Format HD l Color
Synopsis
This film will focus on a story about the main character Mrs. Lin, whose body will be dissected the next year, and the people around her. After she dies, her husband, who loves her deeply, keeps seeing her as if she was alive. From his regular visits, students performing Mrs. Lin’s body begin to know the story of their ‘silent teacher’ much better. When the bodies are no longer cold bodies but friends whom they get to know better, how will the students change in their attitude? In a semester of anatomy class, Mrs. Lin teaches the medical students and her husband a deeper meaning of life. Director’s Bio
I believe image has the greatest power to change the world. Focusing on filmmaking now, I hope documentary can serve as a medium for conversation between the artist and the society and I wish I can create more works which bring positive meanings to the general publics.
Contact
Ging Lee +886 2 2502 6400 lmc680411@gmail.com
2014 A-PITCH
History
CCDF4 The Asian Pitch 2014 Docs Port Incheon 2014
81
Singing from Behind The Bars Most wild birds cannot be free to fly and sing in the wild. They're now singing from behind the bars.
Director DAO Thanh Hung
Genres Socio-Political, Environment
Status(release) Pre-Production
Producer PHAM Phuong Thao
Language Vietnamese
Length 1 x 60min
Production Land of Cinema Production
Country Vietnam
Format HD l Color
Synopsis This is the story about a reality in Vietnam, where bird-playing is considered an elegant interest of the citizen. This has led to the decline in number of birds in the wild. There are 3 main characters: Hong Ky is a retired stage actor, who found the very first bird-playing club in Hanoi. He is famous in the bird-player community for more than 20 years of experience. However, he is now also "retired" from it since he has realized it is not right to keep the birds inside the cages. - Hoang Minh Quang is a young bird-player, who owns hundred of precious birds and won a lot of bird competitions. He is so proud of his birds and can talk about them all day long. - Truong Cam is the Head of a forest ranger station in Bach Ma National Forest, located in Hue. He used to catch and trade birds for a living when he was young. One time he got caught, and has changed since then. From a young ignorant illegal bird hunter, he was recruited to the rangers team and has helped scientists to locate some rare bird species. He is now carrying on doing his protecting work and spreading knowledge for visitors in Bach Ma Forest. This film reflects the contrast between the city and the forest; and among the characters. While the city is noisy with birds trade market, it is rare to see a bird or hear them singing in the forest. Although all the characters love birds, one wants to keep them for their own, the others want to set them free. Directorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bio
Born in December 1977, he got B.A in Cinema & Film Directing at Hanoi University of Theater and Cinema and Graduated the short filmmaking course in USC. He directed a documentary The Sacred Trace of Luy Lau selected in the Vietnam Los Angeles International Film Festival 2013. Also, his recent documentary Young mother on Vai Thai mountain which was selected project of Tokyo Docs 2015 was broadcasted on NHK World. Now, he is directing and producing various projects for VTV (national television station), VTC (Vietnam Cable TV), VOVTV (Voice of Vietnam TV Channel), etc.,
82
Contact
PHAM Phuong Thao +84 9 3461 6080 phamphuongthao30@gmail.com History
Investment Land of Cinema Production
2016 A-PITCH
Sunday Beauty Queen A Filipino maid dreams to become Hong Kong’s most beautiful queen.
Director Baby Ruth VILLARAMA
Genres Human Interest
Status(release) Post Production (10/2016)
Producer Chuck GUTIERREZ
Language Filipino
Length 1 x 95 min
Production Voyage | TBA
Country Philippines
Format DCP l HD l Color 7.1
Sales TBA vincenebrida@gmail.com
Synopsis
A beauty pageant like no other, this film is a true event that tracks five Filipina house helpers in Hong Kong who transform themselves to claim their lost dignity. A domestic helper is the most vulnerable worker in the world. Typically, one works for private households behind closed doors, often without clear terms of employment, and excluded from the protection of labor legislation. Many are migrants, which makes them additionally vulnerable to exploitative or abusive working conditions. While governments have yet to provide equal rights and protection to the world's hidden work force, these women, with their employers take the lead to change the paradigm on how the world sees them. Director’s Bio
Baby Ruth VILLARAMA has been involved in international co-production as a producer. She started researching for international organizations and eventually went up to producing stories with filmmakers from the region. She’s part of Voyage Studios - a group of independent storytellers that support local stories reach a global audience. She is a Chevening scholar focusing on Asian film promotion.
Contact
Chuck GUTIERREZ +63 91 7627 6201 cgutierrez@voyagefilm.com
2015 A-PITCH
History
BIFF 2016 (World Premiere) BIFF - AND 2016 (Mecenat Fund) Good Pitch InDocs 2016, 2017(Jakarta)
83
Swimming through the Darkness The film chronicles the dynamic journey of a blind swimmer who negotiates with his destitution, destiny and desire while chasing his ultimate dream of crossing the English Channel.
Director Supriyo SEN
Genres Human, Sports
Status(release) In Production
Production PERSPECTIVE
Language Bengali
Length 1 x 70min
Country India
Format HD
Synopsis Blind swimmer, Kanai Chakraborty, an ex-student of Helen Keller Institute, where he pursued sports alongside studies to feel enabled. In India, visually-challenged people from lower socio-economic background usually end up leading a pitied life. But Kanai challenged this custom, aiming to lead the dignified life of a sportsman. This decision made his life uncertain, but eventful forever. Kanai knows that swimming is not just a physical challenge for him, but his greatest identity. Therefore, at the age of 40, Kanai decides to explore the extreme challenges of long-distance swimming. In September, 2013, he participates in the World’s Longest Open-Water Swimming Competition (81 km) in the river Ganges. During peak monsoon, when the river is at its height of turbulence; Kanai fights to tame it successfully, touching the finish line after swimming for 12 long hours! His success stirs up the stagnant ambience of small town of Krishnanagar. But when the sensation dies down, he discovers that except a few of his friends, no one else is still standing by him. Even in his own family, he is considered a burden, failing to make financial contribution. Kanai realizes, as a blind person, he does not have much future in a country where the world’s largest numbers of unemployed blind people live. But as a swimmer he can still scale new heights. Hence, Kanai decides to switch from river to ocean, planning to cross English Channel – the “Mount Everest of open-water swimming”. The blind school, where Kanai teaches now, needs an icon to motivate the kids to come out of their shells. Kanai is given the responsibility of instilling courage in them, so that they too can take up sports, overcoming their deepest fears. Amidst all this, Kanai has fallen for a visually-impaired woman who is married to another blind man. Kanai sees the world through her eyes. For the first time, he feels the warmth of affection. But Kanai is at a crossroads, questioning his own morality. For the last three years, our film has been closely recording the dynamic journey of this gritty man in next as he negotiates with his destitution, destiny, desire and dream. Swimming Through The Darkness is the chronicle of a man, who fights incessantly to rise above the ordinary and the dark to reach for the light of a greater horizon.
Director’s Bio
A leading independent documentary filmmaker of India, he has directed films like Way Back Home, Hope Dies Last in War, Wagah, Wait Until Death, The Nest and many other award winning films. He has won 36 international awards for his films in festivals like Berlinale, Karlovy Vary, Krakow, Bilbao, Hamburg, Uppsala, Abu Dhabi, IFFI, MIFF. Supriyo has won three National Awards including Swarna Kamal for the best Documentary of the Year for Hope Dies Last in War.
History Supported by Yes Foundation / Investment EbongKolkata
84
Contact
Supriyo SEN +91 98 3038 8659 perspective.india@gmail.com
2016 A-PITCH
Young Activists After a break of 20 years, a new generation of young activists has emerged in Singapore
Director Jason SOO Producer Jason SOO
Genres Ethnography, Socio·political,
History, Environment, Art&Culture Language English
Status(release) In production(10/2017) Length 1 x 52min, 1 x 75min Format HD l Color
Country Singapore
Synopsis
In 1987, the Singapore government arrested 22 activists and imprisoned them without trial for up to 3 years. The repercussions of these arrests were immense. Civil society disappeared and citizens became increasingly inward and self-policing. In the last decade however, a new generation of young activists has once again emerged. These young activists are engaged in issues such as migrant labour, anti-death penalty, cyber activism, social security, sex work and transgender issues. But in a social landscape complicated by rising xenophobia and ever more subtle mechanisms of control and surveillance, these young activists face an uncertain future. Director’s Bio
Jason Soo is a filmmaker and an adjunct lecturer in art history. In 1999, he was awarded the “Jacques Derrida Exhibition and Prize”. In 2015, the 54-minute version of his documentary 1987: Untracing the Conspiracy was awarded Best Southeast Asian Feature at Freedom Film Festival. The full-length version of 1987: Untracing the Conspiracy is currently in production.
Contact
Jason SOO +65 9235 6065 sooteckchong@yahoo.com.sg
2015 A-PITCH
85
Zone 9 A feature length documentary exploring the rise and fall of 'Zone 9', a pharmaceutical factory turned art district in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Director NGUYEN Anh Thu
Genres Social
Status(release) Released
Producer Gabriel HERNANDEZ
Country Vietnam
Length 1 x 60min Format HD l Color
Synopsis
Zone 9 is a feature documentary about an abandoned pharmaceutical factory turned arts district in Hanoi, Vietnam. In 6 months it became the main hub for arts and entertainment activities in Hanoi, yet it was forced to close down by the authorities within 5 days' time. Manh(male, late 40s, painter), Hai(male, early 40s, architect), Duc(male, late 50s, writer) and Phuong(female, early 30s, art space's owner) and others rented spaces in Zone 9 to open their studios, bars, cafĂŠs, etc. From June 2013, Zone 9 bred new vitality and freedom of creativity around the city. People who brought Zone 9 to life were surprised by its influence on the public and on themselves. Unfortunately in early November, a fire broke out from welding accident in a bar being constructed in Zone 9 that took the lives of 6 workers. Rumors started spreading that Zone 9 would be shut down due to safety concerns. It was also rumored that the existence of Zone 9 was threatening an initial plan of the investors, who wanted to build two modern skyscrapers. In 2013's last 5 days, everyone was forcefully requested to move all their assets while electricity and water were cut off. The dream known as Zone 9 was shattered. Directorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bio
NGUYEN Anh Thu has a strong desire to make documen -taries conveying social issues and problems people have to face in her home country of Vietnam. To her, documentary is a powerful media which has not been used to its full potential to tell stories and spread social awareness in Vietnam.
Contact
Gabriel HERNANDEZ +1 917 932 6728 Gabehnyc@gmail.com
2014 A-PITCH
History
Minidocfest, Goethe Institute, Hanoi 2016 - Boston screening at MIT / New York City Screening / Philadelphia screening at University of Pennsylvania / Los Angeles screening at Echo Park Film Center 86
DOCS PORT INCHEON FACTS & FIGURES 2014 - 2016 87
Docs Port Incheon 2015 Concept
Asian Documentary Project Market
Date Oct 30- Nov 2, 2015 Venue
Paradise Hotel Incheon
Awards&Funds 18 parts/ approx. 600,000 USD Program
K-Pitch: 10 projects / A-Pitch: 12 projects / Rough Cut Sales: 8 projects / Global Project Pitching: 9 projects / Docs Lab & Training Session
Participants
Approximately 600 documentary & film professionals and broadcasters from around 200 companies
Award
Project (Director / Producer)
Best Korean Project (30,000,000KRW)
Mr. Kim (KANG Sang-woo / SHIN Yeon-kyoung)
Best Asian Project (30,000,000KRW)
Confucian Dream (Mijie LI)
Best Rough Cut Project (10,000,000KRW)
Le Tour, the Memories of a Forgotten Dream (LIM Jung-ha, KIM Yang-rae, PARK Hung-joon, JEON Ilwoo)
Best Global Project (20,000,000KRW)
Into the Future (LEE Dong-hee / KIM Jin-man)
Best Global Project (10,000,000KRW)
Why Slavery? (Executive Producer: Mette Hoffmann MEYER, Nick FRASER)
Doc Spirit Award – Korea (15,000,000KRW)
Host Nation (LEE Ko-woon)
Doc Spirit Award – Asia (15,000,000KRW)
Absent Without Leave (LAU Kek Huat / Stefano CENTINI)
Best Young Korean Project (10,000,000KRW)
Family in the Bubble (MA Min-ji / PARK Young-soo, Liisa JUNTUNEN)
CGV Arthouse Award (20,000,000KRW)
Time after Time (PARK Hyuck-jee)
ASD(Asian Side of the Doc) Award
The Day After (LEE Seung-ku / HAN Kyung-soo)
Docedge Award
Mr. Kim (KANG Sang-woo / SHIN Yeon-kyoung)
Post-Production – The Color
Mr. Kim (KANG Sang-woo / SHIN Yeon-kyoung)
Post-Production – KT&G Sangsang Madang Cinelab
Family in the Bubble (MA Min-ji / PARK Young-soo, Liisa JUNTUNEN) Holy Working Day (LEE Hee-won / An Bo-young)
English Subtitle Translation & Captioning – Furmo DT
The Mapper (LEE Kang-hyun)
Theatrical Release Support - Indiespace
Mr. Kim (KANG Sang-woo / SHIN Yeon-kyoung)
Theatrical Release Support – Arthouse Momo
Mr. Kim (KANG Sang-woo / SHIN Yeon-kyoung)
Theatrical Release Support - ARTNINE
Time after Time (PARK Hyuck-jee)
Theatrical Release Support – CGV Arthouse
Family in the Bubble (MA Min-ji / PARK Young-soo, Liisa JUNTUNEN)
Presented by Sponsored by
88
Reborn (IM Heung-soon / KIM Min-kyoung)
Docs Port Incheon 2014 Concept
Asian Documentary Project Market
Date Nov 1- Nov 5, 2014 Venue
Paradise Hotel Incheon
Awards&Funds 21 parts/ approx. 600,000 USD Program
K-Pitch : 12 projects / A-Pitch : 10 projects / Rough Cut Sales : 8 projects / Docs Lab & Training Session
Participants
Approximately 1,240 documentary & film professionals and broadcasters from around 200 companies
Award
Project (Director / Producer)
Best Korean Project (30,000,000KRW)
The Remnants (KIM Il-rhan, LEE Hyuk-sang)
Best Asian Project (30,000,000KRW)
My Dear Lines (ZHANG Nan / Ruby CHEN, ZHANG Yong)
Best Rough Cut Project (10,000,000KRW)
Factory Complex (IM Heung-soon / KIM Min-kyung)
Doc Spirit Award – Korean (20,000,000KRW)
ARMY: 600,000 Portraits (Kelvin Kyung Kun PARK)
Doc Spirit Award – Asian (20,000,000KRW)
God BLISS Our Home (Nawruz PAGUIDOPON / HA Si-nae)
Best Young Korean Project (10,000,000KRW)
Evaporated (KIM Sung-min)
KCA & Funding 21 Award (10,000,000KRW)
Old Marine Boy (JIN Mo-young / LEE Mi-jin, HAN Kyung-soo)
L'arbrevert Korea Award (5,000,000KRW)
An Omnivorous Family’s Dilemma (HWANG Yun / KIM Il-kwon)
Sunny Side of the Doc Award
A Wolf in the Fence (JANG Hyo-bong / SEO Jin-kyung)
Docedge Award Post-Production – The Color Post-Production – KT&G Sangsang Madang Cinelab
The Whispering Trees (HEO Chul-nyung / JUNG Yoon-suk, JO Sona) The Priestess Walks Alone (HUANG Hui-chen / Diana Chiawen LEE) See-Saw (KO Hee-young / HAN Jee-soo) A Corner Shop (LEE Sook-kyung / PI So-hyun)
Post-Production – Digital Studio 2L
Evaporated (KIM Sung-min)
English Subtitle Translation & Captioning –
Factory Complex (IM Heung-soon / KIM Min-kyung)
Furmo DT
The Remnants (KIM Il-rhan, LEE Hyuk-sang)
Theatrical Release Support – Jin Jin Pictures
Evaporated (KIM Sung-min)
Theatrical Release Support - Indiespace
The Whispering Trees (HEO Chul-nyung / JUNG Yoon-suk, JO Sona)
Theatrical Release Support – Arthouse Momo
Evaporated (KIM Sung-min)
Theatrical Release Support - ARTNINE
The Remnants (KIM Il-rhan, LEE Hyuk-sang)
Theatrical Release Support –
Farming Boys
CGV Arthouse
(KANG Ho-jun, JANG Se-jung, BYUN Si-yeon / KANG Ho-jun)
SJM Cultural Foundation Fund
A Corner Shop (LEE Sook-kyung / PI So-hyun) The Remnants (KIM Il-rhan, LEE Hyuk-sang)
BCPF Fund
The Journey to OKJU (KIM Eung-su / Moon Woong)
(Broadcasting Content Promotion Foundation)
Farming Boys (KANG Ho-jun, JANG Se-jung, BYUN Si-yeon / KANG Ho-jun)
Presented by Sponsored by
89
Documentary Pitching Forum 2013 Concept
Pitching Forum for Korean documentary project
Date Dec 6 - Dec 7, 2013 Venue
Incheon Art Platform
Awards&Funds 12 parts / approx. 200,000 USD Program
Korean Documentary Pitching - 8 projects
Participants
Approximately 170 documentary & film professionals and broadcasters from around 65 companies
Award
Project (Director / Producer)
KCA Best Pitching Award
With or Without You (PARK Hyuck-jee / HAN Kyung-soo)
KCA & Funding21 Award
This is Not a Piano (CHOI Jung-min / Gary Byung-seok KAM)
Theatrical Release Support – Cinecode Sonjae Theatrical Release Support – ARTNINE
Children in the Dark (No official English title) (JEON Sang-jin / HAN Sun-hee)
Theatrical Release Support – Indiespace Children in the Dark (No official English title) Post-Production – KT&G
(JEON Sang-jin / HAN Sun-hee)
SangsangMadangCinelab
Director Im Kown-Taek (No official English title) (JUNG Sung-il / PARK Young-un)
Post-Production – Stareast Digital Lab
With or Without You (PARK Hyuck-jee / HAN Kyung-soo) Children in the Dark (No official English title)
English Subtitle Translation & Captioning – Furmo DT
(JEON Sang-jin / HAN Sun-hee) With or Without You (PARK Hyuck-jee / HAN Kyung-soo) The Hospice (LEE Chang-jae)
BCPF (BroadcastingContentPromotion
Children in the Dark (No official English title)
Foundation) Fund (30,000,000KRW)
(JEON Sang-jin / HAN Sun-hee)
SJM Cultural Foundation Fund (60,000,000KRW) SJM Cultural Foundation Fund (20,000,000KRW) Asian Side of the Doc Award
Presented by
90
With or Without You (PARK Hyuck-jee / HAN Kyung-soo) The Hospice (LEE Chang-jae) This is Not a Piano (CHOI Jung-min / Gary Byung-seok KAM)
Index of Films
57 58, 86 59
12 Wives
71
Ma Liangâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Time Machine
Absent without Leave- My Love in Malaya
31, 86
Mapper, The
Arks of Confucius
32, 86
Mr. Kim
5, 87
ARMY: 600,000 Portraits
33
Mrs.B. A North Korean Woman
6, 87
Ashes to Ashes
72
My China
7
Bamseom Pirates Seoul Inferno
34
My Daughter's Toe Walking
8
Becoming Who I Was
73
My Dear Lines
9
Black Monument
35, 87
Old Marine Boy
60
Blondie
36, 87
Omnivorous Family's Dilemma, An
61
Border Bride
62
Border within Border
74, 87
Priestess Walks Alone, The
10
Breath of the Antarctic
38, 86
Reborn
11
Breathing Underwater
75
Red Clothes
63
Cecilia
39
Red Maria 2
12
Con Artists, The
40
Red Painter
64, 86
Confusion Dream
13, 87
37
Optigraph
41, 87
Remnants, The
Corner Shop, A
76
Ring Road, The
14
Counters
77
Road of Prayer, A
15
Crescent Moon on the Stage, A
78
Ruby Land
16, 86
Day After, The
42, 87
See-Saw
17
Dear Granma
79
Silent Teacher, The
65
Dirty Dream, The
80
Singing from Behind the Bars
Evaporated
43
Singing with Angry Bird
Face, the Other Side
81
Sunday Beauty Queen
20, 87
Factory Complex
82
Swimming through the Darkness
21, 86
Family in the Bubble
44
Thirty-four, on the road
22, 87
Farming Boys
45, 88
This is Not a Piano
For Vagina's Sake
46, 86
Time after Time
18, 87 19
23 66, 87
God BLISS Our Home
47
To Ok Hee
24, 86
Holy Working Day
48
Touch
25, 86
Host Nation
49
Try to Remember
67
In Search of Lost Time
50
War of Memories, A
26
Into the Night
68
Iron Legs, The
51, 87 52
Whispering Trees, The Wind on the Moon
Journey to OKJU, The
53, 88
With ot Without You
28
King in a cage
54, 87
Wolf in the Fence, A
69
Last Days of Tsukiji, The
55
Woman wearing a baseball cap
Le Tour: The Memories of a Forgotten Dream
83
Young Activists
70
Letter to Jejara, A
84
Zone 9
30
Little Girl Blue
27, 87
29, 86
91
Index of Directors & Producers
81
Baby Ruth VILLARAMA
50
Bora LEE-KIL
33
Jae-keun CHA
23
Bo-ram KIM
26
Jae-min KARL
Bo-young AN
15
Jae-young KIM
44
Byung-chul KIM
83
Jason Soo
67
CHANG Chih-Wei
24, 86
61, 72
42, 87
Jee-soo HAN
8
Chang-yong MOON
37
Jeong-hyun Mun
81
Chuck GUTIERREZ
33
Jero YUN
51, 86
Chul-nyung HEO
59
Jia ZHAO
10, 49
Dae-hyun KIM
34
Ji-hyun KIM
17
Da-kyung HWANG
80
DAO Thanh Hung
62
Debanjan SENGUPTA
30
Jin-sik HYUN
74, 87
Diana Chiawen LEE
10
Ji-woo JUNG
27, 87
Eung-su KIM
57
John BADALU
84 11, 45, 88
8 54, 87
Jin JEON Jin-kyung SEO
Gabriel HERNANDEZ
29, 86
Jung-ha LIM
Gary Byung-seok KAM
45, 88
Jung-min CHOI
79
Ging LEE
33
Guillaume De la Boulaye
48
Jung-sun CHAE
31, 86
Kang-hyun LEE
20, 23
Hee-jung OH
5, 87
24, 86
Hee-won LEE
25, 86
11, 42, 87
Hee-young KO
39
20, 38, 86, 87
Heung-soon IM
16, 35, 40, 53, 86, 87 88
Kelvin Kyung Kun PARK Ko-woon LEE Kyung Soon Kyung-soo HAN
22, 87
Ho-jun KANG
74, 87
HUANG Hui-chen
61
LIANG Ying
28
Hwan-sung PARK
75
Lida CHAN
15
Hwi-won TAI
21, 86
Liisa Juntunen
43
Hye-won JEE
48
Lin-seong KIM
Hyo-bong JANG
57
Mandy MARAHIMIN
Hyuck-Jee PARK
55
Mario LEE
41, 87
Hyuk-sang LEE
68
Mary Katherine OLSEN
29, 86
Hyung-joon PARK
79
Maso CHEN
54, 87 46, 53, 87, 88
14 26, 36, 87
92
Isabelle GLACHANT
58, 86
LAU Kek Huat
Il-ha LEE
64, 86
Mijie Li
Il-kwon KIM
35, 87
Mi-jin LEE
41, 87
Il-rhan KIM
52
Min-chul KIM
29, 86
Il-woo JEON
77
Ming
Index of Directors & Producers
21, 86
Minji MA
58, 86
Stefano CENTINI
20, 38, 86, 87
Min-kyung KIM
62
Subhadeep GHOSH
69
Minoru OKADA
71
SUN Yang Sun-ah KIM
40
Min-won SEO
43
27, 87
Moon Woong
18, 87
Sung-min KIM
35, 87
Mo-young JIN
47
Sung-one KIM
69
Naomi Kazama
19, 44
Sun-hee LEE
30
Na-rae KIM
82
Supriyo SEN
Nawruz Paguidopon
65
Sushmit Ghosh
84
NGUYEN Anh Thu
76
Swann DUBUS
57
Nicholas SAPUTRA
77
Tenzinsedon
One-joon CHE
78
THU Thu Shein
67
OTA Shingo
57
Tony Trimarsanto
60
Pabelle MANIKAN
76
TRAN Phuong Thao
63
Pankaj JOHAR
10
Un-yeong CHEON
80
PHAM Phoung Thao
68
Vanna HEM
12
Red CHOI
61
Wang Bing
65
Rintu Thomas
72
WANG Xiaoshuai
68
Robert Wilox
60
Wena Sanchez
73
Ruby CHEN
14
Won-jung BAE
71
66, 87
9
S. Leo CHIANG
37
Won-woo LEE
6
Sang-hoon SHIN
34
Woo-jung KWON
55
Sang-sook LEE
47
Woo-nyung JA
32, 86
Sang-woo KANG
6
Woo-young CHOI
59
Sean Wang
29, 86
Yang-rae KIM
70
Sein Lyan TUN
32, 86
Yeon-kyoung SHIN
22, 87
Se-jung JANG
7, 51, 87
16, 86
Seoung-ku LEE
21, 86
Young-soo PARK
52
Seung-Jun YI
36, 87
Yun HWANG
78
SHIN daewe
73
ZHANG Nan
Si-nae HA
73
ZHANG Yong
9, 66, 87 22, 87 17 13, 87 7, 51, 87 13, 87
Yoon-suk JUNG
Si-yeon BYUN So-hyun LEE So-hyun PI Sona JO Sook-kyung LEE
93
Acknowledgements
Publisher LIM Soon-rye Producers KANG Seok-pil KIM Won-joong JO Ji-hoon Editor KIM Gu-seul Staffs Sung MOON YANG Kyoung-min GO Eun-ju KIM Gu-seul JEONG Ha-kyeong KWON Hyuk-sung KIM Kyoung-jin SUN LEE Book Design KIM Tami, TMKVL Printed by Produced by Docs Port Incheon 2016 22140 801, Phil Plaza, 68 Seokbawi-ro, Nam-gu, Incheon, Korea project@idocs-port.org Tel. +82 32 435 7172 www.idocs-port.org No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.