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Fukuoka

Forum 2019
© Lu Film
Back in college, Jea-moon and Hae-hyo were bosom buddies, but their friendship foundered when they both fell in love with the same woman, Soon-yi. 28 years later, Jea-moon, now the owner of a second-hand bookshop in Seoul, travels to Japan to meet his onetime friend, who runs a bar in Fukuoka. He is accompanied by his enchanting young neighbour So-dam, who suggested the meeting in the first place. But in Fukuoka, the traumatic conflict of a long-buried past gradually implodes ...
Director Zhang Lu anchors the plot in realism, in the here and now. And yet the unexpected power outage, the full moon in the night sky, and the TV tower that seems to disappear and reappear all invoke a ghost story, as Zhang Lu resurrects his characters’ haunted pasts. “We will all become ghosts anyway,” says So-dam, as she floats nimbly through the plot, going missing and turning up again at will. Is she also a ghost? Zhang Lu’s smooth camerawork explores the marvellous locations just as delicately as he does the souls of his protagonists. Fukuoka is a quietly amusing film about the ability to let go.
by Zhang Lu
with Kwon Hae-hyo, Yoon Jea-moon, Park So-dam, Yamamoto Yuki Republic of Korea 2019 Korean, Japanese, Mandarin 86’ Colour & Black/White

With

  • Kwon Hae-hyo (Hae-hyo)
  • Yoon Jea-moon (Jea-moon)
  • Park So-dam (So-dam)
  • Yamamoto Yuki (Yuki)

Crew

Written and Directed by Zhang Lu
Cinematography Park Jung-hun
Editing Lee Hak-min
Sound Design Kim Bong-soo
Sound Ahn Bock-nam
Production Design Kim Cho-hea
Producers Zhang Lu Lu Film, Wu Yanyan Bright East Film, Yang Jin Heaven Pictures

World sales

Parallax Films

Produced by

Lu Film

Bright East Film

Heaven Pictures

Photos

Zhang Lu

© Lu Film

Born in Yanbian, Jilin, People’s Republic of China in 1962. He studied Chinese Literature and began writing poetry and novels in 1986. Zhang Lu has been working as a filmmaker since 2001.

Filmography

2001 Shi yi sui (Eleven); 15 min. 2003 Tang shi (Tang Poetry); 88 min. 2005 Mang Zhong (Grain in Ear); 109 min. 2007 Hyazgar Desert Dream; 125 min., Competition 2007 2008 Iri; 108 min. · Chongqing; 95 min. 2010 Dooman River; 89 min., Generation 2010 2013 Pung gyeong (Scenery); 95 min. 2014 Gyeongju; 145 min. 2015 Pil-re-um si-dae sa-rang (Love and…); 71 min. 2016 Chun-mong (A Quiet Dream); 101 min. 2018 Gunsan (Ode to the Goose); 121 min. 2019 Fukuoka

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2019