The Toronto Korean Film Festival and Reel Asian International Film Festival co-presented shorts made by Korean-Canadians. The shorts are eligible for a prize and the awards ceremony will take place on the final day of the festival July 1st. As a voter it was really tough to make a decision since I really enjoyed all of the shorts that were screened. I also enjoyed having the directors in attendance and found the post-screening Q&A to be fascinating since I know very little about the logistics of filmmaking.
Like many people I'm not as receptive to shorts as I am to feature films, however, I would like to say that these wonderful films changed my mind!
D.C. al Fine
Lee Bansuk directed and starred in this short as well as acting in the TKFF promotional video and in Open Invitation (also part of this competition).
The film is about Mr.Ji who at first seems like a typical thug. He works as a loan shark for a local Korean gang and has no qualms about removing the fingers of those who fail to payback their loans on time. However, we soon discover an entirely different side to Mr. Ji, a passionate musician who misses his girlfriend still in Korea. His dream is to bring her to Canada so that they can open a music shop together. Unfortunately these two separate lives are bound to collide and when they do the results are inevitably tragic.
During the Q&A director Lee Bansuk explained that he made the severed fingers featured in the film (they were very convincing). He also works at the festival and the other night was even doing traditional Korean calligraphy. Guests had their names written on beautiful rice paper for free. It was a nice souvenir of TKFF. He has also done a great interview with Planet of Snail director Yi Seung Jun. You can watch the interview here.
A Drummer's Passion
Kwon Soon Keun leads a low profile life in Toronto but 50 years ago he was the drummer of ADD-4 a rock band often referred to as the 'Korean Beatles'. When a YouTube video of one of his recent performance goes viral it attracts millions of viewers including director Kim Mingu who tracked him down to make this documentary short. Even if you have never heard of ADD-4 or have no interest in retro Korean rock music you will still be carried away by the passion and infectious energy of Kwon Soon Keun. It is hard to believe that he is 71, his love for the drums obviously keeps him young. This film shows that no matter where you are or whether or not you even have an audience, doing what you love to do is important. Kwon Soon Keun may not have the glamorous life he once had as part of ADD-4 but he has his drum kit and that's all that really matters.
In Retrospect
Directed by Chris K.Kim, this is a beautifully animated short using the rotoscoping aimation technique. This film is only 3 mins long but captures perfectly the degeneration of a romantic relationship including the radically different perspective of events leading to the break-up. The man sees the relationship with rose coloured glasses whereas the woman remembers the exact same events but without the man's insensitive behaviour omitted. They meet by chance in the street which triggers this series of flashbacks.
Numbers (video above)
This short directed by Robert Hloz, manages to capture such a huge story in just 10 minutes. This could easily be expanded into a feature film but is perhaps just as well perfect in it's conciseness. A man and woman meet in Hyang Univeristy (presumably Seoul campus). The man can see random numbers above peoples heads but has no idea what they mean. Suddenly he is drawn to a mysterious woman who seems to see these same numbers. What can she tell him about this bizarre ability and does he really want to know? I loved the concept for this film and the beautiful saturated greys and blues of the crowded streets where this is set. Simple things in the film like steam rising from a bowl of hot ramen were very beautifully shot. Also the world-weariness of the woman is captured perfectly without being melodramatic. The way she knocks back soju seems to say everything about her sadness and the mysterious numbers.
My Granpa
Director Zong eui-yong's moving tribute to his late grandfather. In just 11 mins the life of a man, the impact he has had on different family members and the bond between grandfather and grandson is captured perfectly. There were elements of this film that reminded me of my own family. I was especially moved by Zong eui-yong description of being bullied as a child and taking comfort in the VHS tapes his grandfather would mail to him from Korea. He says in the film that while he was indoors as a result of this bullying these Korean dramas and films sent by his grandfather were his only connection with the outside world.
Open Invitation
Loosely based on the experiences of director Park Jaewoo, Open Invitation is about a Korean international student (Doo-young) in Toronto who is called for his mandatory 2 year military service and will do absolutely anything to avoid it. Compounding all of this is the fact that his room mate is from a well-off family and has permanent residency thus avoiding the military service. There is one scene where Doo-young watches his room mate stay up all night playing video games and he wonders to himself, did he really come all the way to Canada just to do this?
Doo-young tries a variety of things to avoid the military service including trying to pull out his teeth, trying to injure his shoulders and knees doing Judo, trying to find a Korean girl with permanent residency to marry him and even impersonating his room mate (the results of which are hilarious).
This previously screened as part of the TIFF Student Showcase.
Death Buy Lemonade (video below)
A hilarious and cute dark comedy about lemonade and death. Death encounters a stubborn little-girl at her lemonade stand and the results are unexpected and comic genius. The animation style of this is beautiful and reminded me of sketches done in coloured chalk or conte. Director Lee Kyubum also did the Taste Kimchi Cinema promotional video for TKFF (the one that plays prior to every screening and is brilliant!) and is currently working on the show Sidekick for YTV.
Like many people I'm not as receptive to shorts as I am to feature films, however, I would like to say that these wonderful films changed my mind!
D.C. al Fine
Lee Bansuk directed and starred in this short as well as acting in the TKFF promotional video and in Open Invitation (also part of this competition).
The film is about Mr.Ji who at first seems like a typical thug. He works as a loan shark for a local Korean gang and has no qualms about removing the fingers of those who fail to payback their loans on time. However, we soon discover an entirely different side to Mr. Ji, a passionate musician who misses his girlfriend still in Korea. His dream is to bring her to Canada so that they can open a music shop together. Unfortunately these two separate lives are bound to collide and when they do the results are inevitably tragic.
During the Q&A director Lee Bansuk explained that he made the severed fingers featured in the film (they were very convincing). He also works at the festival and the other night was even doing traditional Korean calligraphy. Guests had their names written on beautiful rice paper for free. It was a nice souvenir of TKFF. He has also done a great interview with Planet of Snail director Yi Seung Jun. You can watch the interview here.
A Drummer's Passion
Kwon Soon Keun leads a low profile life in Toronto but 50 years ago he was the drummer of ADD-4 a rock band often referred to as the 'Korean Beatles'. When a YouTube video of one of his recent performance goes viral it attracts millions of viewers including director Kim Mingu who tracked him down to make this documentary short. Even if you have never heard of ADD-4 or have no interest in retro Korean rock music you will still be carried away by the passion and infectious energy of Kwon Soon Keun. It is hard to believe that he is 71, his love for the drums obviously keeps him young. This film shows that no matter where you are or whether or not you even have an audience, doing what you love to do is important. Kwon Soon Keun may not have the glamorous life he once had as part of ADD-4 but he has his drum kit and that's all that really matters.
In Retrospect
Directed by Chris K.Kim, this is a beautifully animated short using the rotoscoping aimation technique. This film is only 3 mins long but captures perfectly the degeneration of a romantic relationship including the radically different perspective of events leading to the break-up. The man sees the relationship with rose coloured glasses whereas the woman remembers the exact same events but without the man's insensitive behaviour omitted. They meet by chance in the street which triggers this series of flashbacks.
Numbers (video above)
This short directed by Robert Hloz, manages to capture such a huge story in just 10 minutes. This could easily be expanded into a feature film but is perhaps just as well perfect in it's conciseness. A man and woman meet in Hyang Univeristy (presumably Seoul campus). The man can see random numbers above peoples heads but has no idea what they mean. Suddenly he is drawn to a mysterious woman who seems to see these same numbers. What can she tell him about this bizarre ability and does he really want to know? I loved the concept for this film and the beautiful saturated greys and blues of the crowded streets where this is set. Simple things in the film like steam rising from a bowl of hot ramen were very beautifully shot. Also the world-weariness of the woman is captured perfectly without being melodramatic. The way she knocks back soju seems to say everything about her sadness and the mysterious numbers.
My Granpa
Director Zong eui-yong's moving tribute to his late grandfather. In just 11 mins the life of a man, the impact he has had on different family members and the bond between grandfather and grandson is captured perfectly. There were elements of this film that reminded me of my own family. I was especially moved by Zong eui-yong description of being bullied as a child and taking comfort in the VHS tapes his grandfather would mail to him from Korea. He says in the film that while he was indoors as a result of this bullying these Korean dramas and films sent by his grandfather were his only connection with the outside world.
Open Invitation
Loosely based on the experiences of director Park Jaewoo, Open Invitation is about a Korean international student (Doo-young) in Toronto who is called for his mandatory 2 year military service and will do absolutely anything to avoid it. Compounding all of this is the fact that his room mate is from a well-off family and has permanent residency thus avoiding the military service. There is one scene where Doo-young watches his room mate stay up all night playing video games and he wonders to himself, did he really come all the way to Canada just to do this?
Doo-young tries a variety of things to avoid the military service including trying to pull out his teeth, trying to injure his shoulders and knees doing Judo, trying to find a Korean girl with permanent residency to marry him and even impersonating his room mate (the results of which are hilarious).
This previously screened as part of the TIFF Student Showcase.
Death Buy Lemonade (video below)
A hilarious and cute dark comedy about lemonade and death. Death encounters a stubborn little-girl at her lemonade stand and the results are unexpected and comic genius. The animation style of this is beautiful and reminded me of sketches done in coloured chalk or conte. Director Lee Kyubum also did the Taste Kimchi Cinema promotional video for TKFF (the one that plays prior to every screening and is brilliant!) and is currently working on the show Sidekick for YTV.
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