‘Rooftop Film Screening V’
Faces of Seoul by Gina Kim
22.05.2016
SYNOPSIS
Faces of Seoul is filmmaker Gina Kim’s unique documentary, at once a portrait of an Asian capital and a film essay of a transforming Seoul. The film is taken from the intimate perspective of both an ex local and expatriate, whose knowledge of the city is neither contemporary nor irrelevant.
Faces of Seoul loops its audiences through the ever-changing modern metropolis, from the Seodaemun Prison to the blooming cherry blossoms in a verdant park, from a neighborhood occupied with American soldiers to a parade of Buddhists marching through the streets. In each of these spaces, Gina Kim explores the city she so fondly remembers, reconciling the reality of her memories with that which moves right in front of her. By doing so, Faces of Seoul reveals Korea’s capital as a dynamic place where these opposing concepts--language vs. image, tradition vs. modern, native knowledge vs. exotic encounters—overlap and move against one another, none yielding to a single dominant perspective.
“I wanted to make a documentary that pays homage to two cinematic legacies: first, the great urban symphony films from the silent period such as Dziga Vertov’s Man With A Movie Camera, and second, the more recent travel essay films such as Wim Wenders’ Tokyo-Ga and Chris Marker’sSans Soleil. I wanted to photograph Seoul, while remaining attentive to its own unique sounds, and the fleeting nature of the cityscape. Faces of Seoul is collaged from historical archival images of important landmarks, still photos from private family albums, everyday street sounds, and the stories of several people whom I have randomly encountered. Seoul is a city that was once to me very familiar, but has become increasingly unfamiliar.”
Cast and Credit
Written, Edited, and Narrated by Gina Kim Producer Kyung Hyun Kim, Gina Kim Cinematography Gina Kim Additional Cinematography andAssistant Director Sunhee Ahn Assistant Editor Greg Gagnon, Yu-Jeong Noh Sound Design Stephen Barden Music Bora Yoon A recipient of multimedia production grant, Korea Foundation. (2009. 93min. Color/Black and White. Stereo. 4:3. English)
Director Intro:
Gina Kim’s five feature-length films, along with her short films have garnered impressive acclaim and have been screened at many prestigious film festivals, such as Berlin, Venice, Locarno, Rotterdam, Buenos Aires, San Sebastian, Pusan, Deauville and Sundance, as well as the MOMA, Centre Pompidou and the Smithsonian. Invisible Light won the special award at the 2004 Seoul Women’s Film Festival has been screened at more than 23 film festivals and in over 15 countries. Never Forever, which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at 2007 Sundance Film Festival, was awarded the Jury Prize at the 2007 Deauville American Film Festival. In regard to Never Forever (starring Vera Farmiga and Ha Jung-Woo), Variety writes, “Kim’s highly sensitive camera turns the film into a chamber-piece of hushed eroticism and surprising narrative grip.” Martin Scorsese has called Never Forever, “A moving experience [in which] the performances are wonderful and touching, and the style...intense and very precise.” Never Forever was the first co-production between the United States and South Korea, and the film was theatrically released in the US, South Korea, and France.
Kim’s most recent film is 2013’s Final Recipe, a pioneering China-Korea co-production starring Michelle Yeoh. With actors and crew from all over the world, the film was shot in Thailand, China and Korea. The Hollywood Reporter commends Kim for how “she conjures a non-exotic piece out of a territory-trotting narrative, where every place is made to seem like home.” Final Recipe screened at the 2014 Berlin Film Festival as the opening film for the Culinary Cinema section and will be theatrically released in 2015.
Between 2004-2007, and from 2013-2014, Kim has taught film production and theory classes at Harvard University (Department of Visual and Environmental Studies), being the first Asian woman teaching in her department. Kim also served as a jury member at many film festivals and awards, such as the Torino Film Festival, Venice Film Festival and Asian Pacific Screen Awards.
Kim received her MFA from Cal Arts and her BFA from Seoul National University.
