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Director YEON Sang-ho of King of the Pigs has made a new film. It's a 30-minute short film called The Window, a story set in the military. Despite its short duration, Yeon's depiction of social reality is as sharp as before. The Window is also the first film of the 'Independent Short Film Release Project' organized by Indiespace, an independent-only theater and Indieplug, a digital distributor of independent films.

 

  

I finished King of the Pigs in March of 2011 and I didn't have much to do after that. I only had to edit it by October in time for the Busan International Film Festival. Editing involves working with one's head with an editor so it's not physically taxing. I applied for production support at the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) and got some funds so that's why I started working on The Window while completing King of the Pigs. While doing interviews for King of the Pigs, I also worked on The Window.

 

 

  
The Human Rights Commission of Korea had an animation project called If You Were Me: Anima Vision. They've done two animations but I've never had a chance to take part. Every time I applied, I was never accepted. I have a lot of interest in human rights issues so I wanted to do a story concerning them this time round.

 

JUNG is me during my military service. I went to military prison, too. It's all 100% my own, personal experience, so it's strange to call it a script. I merely put my experiences together and it's based 100% on what actually happened.

I tried not to focus on any particular character but I do think my personal views seeped through to the story in general. I thought I was an average soldier but it turned out I wasn't. It's difficult to talk about how to be a good soldier during one's military service. I don't think it's easy to say that the view shown in The Window is the definitive way to serve in the military but I wanted to show that this viewpoint exists. 

 

   

I took part in the Asian Project Market at this year's Busan International Film Festival and got a lot of interest from local and overseas film professionals, which means I only have to focus on making a good film now. Many people were interested in The Fake as well. Circumstances have changed so much, beyond my wildest imagination since King of the Pigs.

 

It's about religious cults and faith. The film uses criticism of religion as a basis but it's more about what faith actually means for people. Koreans tend to think about social phenomenons, beliefs, ideas about personal social justice and personal values in a religious way. It's a story which shows how this kind of belief can be broken.

 

I agree with you. If the government changes at the next presidential election, I think more detailed stories may come out. I was praised for King of the Pigs but I think it can have different interpretations. I wasn't meaning to talk about different classes in society but there were many discussions about that. People only mentioned authority, gap of wealth and school violence. We have a very tight framework in this society so room for discussion can be very limited. The Fake is due to be released in the first half of next year so I'm hoping that there will be a wider and more diverse societal framework to accommodate different interpretations of the film.