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| Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda / AFP-Yonhap |
Hirokazu Kore-eda's three documentaries are among 37 SIEFF films premiering in Korea and Asia
By Ko Dong-hwan
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Watching the nature documentaries he had produced for Japanese TV broadcasters, the director appreciated that the works that jumpstarted his creative career finally earned the chance to premiere in Korea for international movie-goers.
"I have learned that three of my TV documentaries I produced in my 20s are premiering in Korea," Kore-eda, now 60, said in a self-recorded video sent to this year's organizer of the Seoul International Eco Film Festival (SIEFF).
The videos were made for TV documentary series NONFIX in 1991 and 1992. "These documentaries are very precious to me as they opened doors for me to grow up in a lot of aspects," he said.
Despite the belatedness, the SIEFF organizing committee's inclusion of Kore-eda's documentaries in this year's festival dedicated to the environment is only natural.
"However…" (1991) and "Where Has All the Pollution Gone?" (1992), about grave social issues in Japan at the time, and educational piece, "Lessons From a Calf" (1991), deal with the interactions between humanity and nature. As he filmed, edited and put together segments from unscripted footage that altogether runs for hours, the fledgling TV producer was broadening his creative vision with help from nature's lessons.
"Before I became a film director, I investigated and interviewed people to produce TV works," Kore-eda said in the video, referring to his pre-cinematic career as a TV director spanning from 1987 to 1995. "I had learned a lot from that experience, not just for the sake of directing films later but also how I should interact with others in my personal life."
He also apologized in the video that because his latest film "Monster" is opening on June 2 he cannot visit Seoul for the festival.
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| Hirokazu Kore-eda speaks in a video clip he sent to the organizer of the Seoul International Eco Film Festival 2023 / Courtesy of SIEFF |
The SIEFF organizer said that the documentaries Kore-eda made when he was 29 and 30 years old were the "starting point of his creativity."
"However…" and "Where Has…," are about the disastrous consequences of environmental problems and show his keen observations of societal issues, according to the organizer. In "Lessons From a Calf," viewers are invited to look through the eyes of Kore-eda at children, a theme which continued later into his filmography with offerings such as "Like Father, Like Son" (2013) and "Nobody Knows" (2004).
"He portrays the mundane moments of people's daily lives in a very delicate fashion, focusing on the hidden emotions and relationships inside a person's mind," the organizer said.
Alongside Kore-eda's works, 34 other films are premiering in Korea and Asia through SIEFF this year, a major portion of the entire roster of 87 films from 30 countries. The films, ranging from documentaries to animation, thrillers, comedies, dramas and experimental, were selected by three judges from among 2,833 entries.
Held under the slogan "Ready, Climate, Action!" the annual SIEFF has been held for years under the organizing committee head Choi Yeol from the Seoul-based Green Fund. Actress Choi Hee-seo, who swept multiple awards in 2017 after starring in "Anarchist from Colony" and "Okja," has been selected by the organizer as the Eco Friend Ambassador for this year's festival. The International Competition Jury includes film director Mike Figgis and film critics Kiki Fung and Chris Fujiwara.
The festival is simultaneously held online and offline at Megabox Seongsu in Seoul's eastern Seongdong District.
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