Indie rising star directors YOO Ji-young of Duck Town, JEONG Ga-young of Hit the Night (2017), and KIM Tae-jin of Winter Dreams (2015) got together for one film, Cinema with You, an omnibus film that was produced and distributed by the Seoul Independent Film Festival (SIFF). YOO Ji-young’s segment TO The Theater (2017) is about a young woman who wanders her way into a small theater after getting a note saying, “Meet me at the theatre”. JEONG Ga-young’s A thought in the theater (2017) is about a director faced with unexpected questions at a Q&A session. Then there is KIM Tae-jin’s So Close To Paradise (2017), which is about a man who unexpectedly finds himself watching a classic film while looking for his junior staff member who is hiding in a cinematheque. This new film illustrates three unique points of view on film theaters and is the fifth output from SIFF’s Indietriangle, a production support project. We met with the three directors, who had the premiere of Cinema with You at the 43rd SIFF as part of the opening ceremony, to talk about their work.

 

YOO Ji-young: I wanted to take a break for a while after shooting Duck Town. I needed to take some time for myself, but when I saw that the theme that year was “theater”, I couldn’t miss this opportunity. I’m sure it would have been the same for every director. That’s why I gathered all my notes and wrote my screenplay in just an hour while assuring myself that it would be fine if I don’t get picked. At the time, I was interested in the monotonous life and maze representations, so I’ve incorporated these elements into the theater. I had the feeling that other contestants would probably show the theater as a romantic place, so I took the opposite approach and turned it into a place of disappointment, and used it to represent the individualism of the contemporary humans.

JEONG Ga-young: I had my first experience with SIFF when I screened my first feature film Bitch on the Beach in 2016. When I noticed that the theme for the Indietriangle scenario contest was “theater”, I decided to participate. While wondering what the kind of story I could write about theaters, I decided to make a film based on a personal experience I had during a Q&A when Bitch on the Beach was released. I was very nervous in the theater that day and felt like I should act spontaneously. If you’re a fan of indie films, I’m sure you’ll recognize the specific atmosphere of indie film Q&As, and be able to relate to it.

KIM Tae-jin: I first got involved with SIFF in 2015, and received a lot of help from many people. The people that I met through SIFF told me that I should participate in the Indietriangle project, so I applied for it. Since the theater was the theme, I was able to come up with something quite easily. As media expert Regis Debray once said, “Television lets the viewer become the owner of the room, while a film makes the audience become the nomads of the streets.” A film is not just a movie. The journey to the theater, the route you take, the people you meet, what you eat, and even the weather, they all become part of the whole movie theater experience. With that quote as a starting point, I wrote the story as a road movie about different people and their journeys to the theater.

KIM Tae-jin: (I have yet to make a feature film, so) releasing a film itself is unfamiliar and new to me. Since this is a short film, having it played in front of so many people will remain a unique experience for me, even if I end up continuing to make films. Being able to communicate with several directors consistently and to meet the audience through Q&As influenced me a lot. Unlike most audiences who usually pick a specific film to watch at a festival, I liked the fact that I was able to have different conversations with an audience that came without too much expectation.

JEONG Ga-young: First of all, it’s meaningful to me because now I have another film that was released in theaters. However, I’m worried because it’s not performing very well at the box office. I have a YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGqPnH9L-2sJKOV8h9oEujw) where I upload my short films, but as someone who makes short films, I wish we had a structure where these films could be easily accessed, whether it’s via theaters or an online platform.

YOO Ji-young: This film was initially developed as an omnibus project so that it could be released in theaters, that’s how it was made possible. However, the chance for a short film to get a theatrical release is usually very low, and that’s why you never know if you’ll ever be able to release your work, even after completion. I wasn’t anxious this time, because they held the contest while providing a guarantee that the film would get released in theaters. We just had to follow the production schedule planned all the way through the release date by our producer JE Jeong-ju. Thanks to that, we could focus on making something creative. I’d say I was able to work very thoroughly compared to any of my previous works. In addition, the producer and the investors gave me complete creative freedom. Whenever there was a dispute, the director’s decision would take precedence. 

 

KIM Tae-jin: There is a project I’m working on, but it’ll be put on hold. I’ve been writing a new screenplay about a cold murder case that hasn’t yet been adapted into a film. Since it’s about something that is so far away from our daily lives, it’s really interesting, but it’s also hard to research.

JEONG Ga-young: I’ll work on my third feature film with the one-person production company BITCH PICTURES which produced my feature film Bitch on the Beach. The title is Love, and it’s about a girl who falls in love with a married man. I’m currently waiting to see if I’ll be selected for the production support program from the Korean Film Council. If I pass, I hope to start shooting at the end of this year or early next year. My second feature film, Hit the Night will be released in theaters in September or October.

YOO Ji-young: I met INDIESTORY Inc. when they decided to distribute Duck Town, and we agreed to work on my next project together. For this year, I’ll be brainstorming ideas to work on a treatment, and the shooting is scheduled for next spring. However, I told INDIESTORY Inc. that I’ve been working too much with Duck Town and Cinema with You, and requested a break to take a breath and study. They understood and agreed to delay the project as much as I needed, so I’m not sure when I’ll be starting my next project.