CinemAsia Film Festival is from the 6th till the 11th of March 2018.
Interview by: Feargal Agard | FilmLAB participant: Dong-Ju Yoon.
Film: Hangul Blues (2018) | Genre: Drama | Languages: Dutch, Korean.
I am Dong-Ju Yoon.
“I am Dong-Ju Yoon, but everybody calls me D.J. I graduated from MET Filmschool in London where I was trained to be a cinematographer, but graduated as a director and screenwriter. I’ve been in the commercial industry before, during and after my studies. I have been doing small jobs as a Director of Photography and cameraman for fiction films and documentaries. There is a feature documentary that I’ve been working on as a cameraman. It is still in post-production, but together with my colleague we have been following North-Korean defectors. Who just escaped North-Korea by crossing the the border of China, crossing many borders to get into South-Korea safely. This is a job that I’m most proud of as a filmmaker.”
Hangul Blues (2018).
“During Hangul Blues (2018) which was directed by Daan Vree I worked as a cinematographer. i was therfore responsible for the visual way of telling the story through light and camerawork. The story is about Petra, a Korean adoptee who wants to learn Korean because of the letter she received from her birthmother. Because she is confronted wth the language barrier all her hard work seems to in vain. Hereafter she meets a young Korean boy who recently moved from South-Korea to the Ntherlands. The language barrier is still present, but through her relationship with him she discovers thatlanguage is not the only way to communicate with others.”
“Despite the language barrière..[one can always]..communicate.”
“I believe that the message of this film is that despite the language barrier there is always a way to communicate with each other. There is great value in language as a means of communication, but we often forget that there also other ways of communication. By staring at each other, through dance or even a silence can be a medium for communication. Many of us attempt to find the most effective way of communication. To communicate with the world and the people we find most important to us. I think that this is an example of what the director was trying to convey through this film.”
CinemAsia & de FilmLAB: “Cherish our differences.”
“I value CinemAsia Film Festival because they help Asian filmmakers and the Asian community in Amsterdam by giving them the chance to create a film in which they can tell their story. And that’s not the only thing, because it also a platform where we can share our stories with the Western world. Europe is a melting pot of cultures, nationalities, religions and customs. I believe that it is of great importance to share our differences with each other. In order to cherish our differences. It is not that we are necessarily discriminated in the Dutch film industry, but it is always nice to have a platform where I’m invited to bring my passion into practice. That is whay platforms such as CinemAsia have gerat menaing in this world. I hope that even more of these platforms will arise in our community.”
“A love for audiovisual communication.”
“My dream is to be a filmmaker, but in a variety of roles and aspects within the film industry. Whether I am a dierctor of fiction films, videographer for documentaries or a video artist, etc.I have a love for communication through audiovisual means and I would like to be in this sector working on many different projects in which I can show and experience my passion.”
Photo and interview byFeargal Agard.
Check http://cinemasia.nl/en/ for all information about CinemAsia Film Festival 2018.
