Collapse

Won-woo Lee, Jeong-hyun Mun / Republic of Korea (South Korea) / 2014 / International Premiere / 78 min.

synopsis

The basic motif of this experimental film – collapse – is found on both the personal and the societal level. This 10-year filmmaking effort was inspired by one of the directors’ fears that his second child will be born with Down Syndrome. His documentary work with mentally handicapped children helps him come to terms with his sense of guilt. He combines introspection with his activism against evicting people from houses slated for demolition because of urban renewal. The theme of collapse also makes it into the film’s form – it overturns traditional documentary approaches and makes room for an evocative experimentation with real and virtual images.

DETAIL:
“He could not dare tell anyone how he wanted the child aborted… And the day when he was waiting for the child’s birth in front of the delivery room he said his face full of fear seen in the full-body mirror was abominating.”

biography

Korean documentarian Jeong-hyun Mun’s poetic films such as Grandmother’s Flower (2007) and Yongsan (2010) have been well received at various Asian film festivals, including Busan and Yamagata. German-born independent Korean director Won-woo Lee has previously made personal experimental documentaries, including Flesh of Flesh (2010) and Generator of Duriban (2012).