Kim Jin-yeol
Directing
Biography
In 1998, Kim Jin-yeoul began producing documentary films with Handicapped Woman Kim Jin-ok′s Marriage Story (1999), which recorded the marriage of a disabled woman. Later, she won New Documentarist Award at the Seoul International Documentary Video & Film Festival with her private documentary Land to Make Rice (2000). She directed several documentaries including Forgotten Warriors (2004), the story of Park Soonja, a female North Korean partisan during the Korean War, Jin-Ok Sister Goes to School (2007), the sequel of Handicapped Woman Kim Jin-ok′s Marriage Story, and Cruel State (2015), which recorded the truth commission activities of the bereaved families of the Sewol Ferry Disaster.
Known For
In April 2014, the entire nation of South Korea watched on television live as The Sewol capsized off the coast of Jindo. The tragedy left life-long wounds in the hearts of people whose family and friends had been among the 304 passengers killed. The majority of the victims were high school students on a school trip. Their parents were not even given the luxury of grieving, as they had to camp out in front of the Parliament, City Hall and the Presidential House, asking for only one thing - to know the truth about why their children had been left to die. But after more than a year, that truth has yet to be brought to light. This film is a documentation of the year-long struggle and painful soul-searching of people destined to be labelled as 'bereaved families' for the rest of their lives, as they come face to face with the naked face of their cruel country.
Cruel State
The life of Kim Jong-boon, who has been a peddler in Wangshimni for 50 years, is admirable. At the age of 83, she no longer has to earn a living at her street stall, but she keeps working because she still has customers.
Kim Jong-boon of Wangshimni
Eunbin, charged with protesting at the headquarters of a coal-fired power plant exporter, embarks on a legal battle that becomes a platform to expose the urgency of the climate crisis. In court, she shares firsthand accounts of climate disaster survivors. Her journey takes us to small towns and rural areas ravaged by these disasters, revealing communities fighting to protect their lives through care and solidarity in the face of climate catastrophe. Along the way, an unexpected alliance forms between young Eunbin and an elderly activist whom she met during a coal plant protest. As the fierce battle against climate change continues, Eunbin's case reaches its climax with a Supreme Court verdict.
All that saves us
Kang Eun-bin, a youth climate activist who faced legal battles for protesting coal exports to Vietnam, leads a new fight against South Korea's final coal power project. In spring 2024, Kang and fellow Youth Climate Emergency Action members journey to Samcheok, Gangwon Province. With one plant already operational and another nearing completion, they race against time to halt the country's last coal-fired power plant construction. Joining forces with local activist 'Kim Gong-ryong' and his friends, these determined young advocates embark on a crucial mission. As the September 2024 deadline looms, can this coalition of passionate youth succeed in stopping the coal-fired plant and changing the course of South Korea's energy future?
Dino and Friends' Expedition to Samcheok
A documentary about the unconverted long-term women prisoners who had been captured as communist guerillas in South Korea and despite decades of imprisonment and social ostracization continue to uphold their cause of reunification and national democracy. The film follows the women as they attend reunification rallies, meet with a new generation of activists, march in protest of the war in Iraq, visit the DPRK to take part in the Inter-Korean Women’s Reunification Rally, reminisce with their comrades, tend to their families, and bury their comrades.