Cinema to showcase best in contemporary Korean documentary filmmaking

A unique series curated by Birkbeck University students will present a journey into contemporary Korean documentaries in partnership with Bertha DocHouse and the Korean Cultural Centre UK.

‘Korean Film Nights: In Transit’ addresses the continuously transforming public and private spaces of marginalised Korean communities. Four carefully-selected titles offer a meditation on spatial politics, exploring how they intersect with various personal narratives.

The programme will take place both at Bertha DocHouse’s cinema at The Brunswick Centre, London, and on their online streaming platform.

There is a long-standing Korean documentary tradition of films about social and political change. This tradition is rooted in activism, the labour movement and the amplification of underrepresented voices. ‘In Transit’ showcases how four contemporary documentary filmmakers have positioned themselves within that history, both in dialogue and also offering new approaches to their craft.

The programme explores different ways of understanding space and movement. It looks at how we negotiate our existence within spaces and how our experience is also expanded by them. There will be four films that offer an alternative way to transcend these states of confinement:

‘In Transit’ opens with Weekends, a story about G-Voice, the first gay choir in Korea. As the groups fight for their space to perform on stage, both literally and metaphorically, director Lee Dong-ha shines a spotlight on what happens when the collective helps repressed communities. This film will be showing online on Bertha DocHouse’s streaming platform from 29th, 7 pm – 31st, 11:59 pm July. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/162662310349

Jung Da-woon’s The Sea of Itami Jun treats space in perhaps the most literal way. However, there is more to this than meets the eye. Never quite finding his place in the world, Itami Jun designs his spaces to utilise the surrounding environment. Nothing is static in his work, not even his architecture is immune to the passage of time. This screening will take place on 1st August at Bertha DocHouse cinema. https://dochouse.org/cinema/screenings/korean-film-nights-sea-itami-jun

The theme of the diasporic Korean community is explored in Kim So-young’s’ Sound of Nomad + REC’. Q&A. A filmic journey that starts in 1937, the film focuses on the Koryo people, displaced from East Russia to Kazakhstan. It looks at how the community creates their own space so far from home by embracing the richness of their culture. By taking care of each other and celebrating their roots, the community creates their own space of belonging and identity. This film will be showing online on Bertha DocHouse’s streaming platform from 5th-7th August and followed by a recorded Q&A with the director. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/162664763687

The act of finding one’s home is depicted in Lee Soojung’s Time To Read Poems. What connects the five main characters is a drive to create their own safe spaces: mentally, physically, economically and socially. With the sensibility of a poet, the director gives them a way to express their vulnerabilities. This screening will take place on 10th August at Bertha DocHouse cinema. https://dochouse.org/cinema/screenings/korean-film-nights-2021-time-read-poems

‘In Transit’ gives space to the unrepresented voice to people and stories often left silent or at the social and political margins. The selected films are predominantly directed by women and focus on the Korean diaspora, the working class and sexual minorities. By showcasing these films, they highlight the importance of community and the people with whom they share lives and spaces. All these stories look back as a means to imagine a more connected and inclusive future.