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Voices of the Silenced

Forum Special 2024
Park Soo-nam was many things in her long life: a writer, single mother, BBQ restaurant owner, activist and above all a documentary film-maker. Now she’s well into her eighties and losing her eyesight. With great care, love and a shared sense of humour, her daughter Park Maeui takes on the transgenerational task of conveying her mother’s important legacy to our present times, in which fascism and militarism are on the rise worldwide. This film, made with and about her mother, opens up a rich, decolonial archive: born in Japan as the descendant of Korean immigrants from the colonial period, Park Soo-nam made it her life’s work to document her community’s experiences of violence that had been repressed by Japanese society. She interviewed countless contemporary witnesses: survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, of massacres, forced labour, forced mobilisation and comfort women (sex slaves). This collaborative film, and her mother’s film material in it, document an alternative history and preserve that community’s memories. Alongside the words of those who suffered injury to life and limb, their work together focuses on the expressive power of the body.
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by Park Soo-nam, Park Maeui
with Kim Seong-soo, Hirano Nobuto, Jeon Dong-rye, Lee Yong-im, Seo Jeong-woo, Kim Jeong-soon, Lee Ok-seon Japan / South Korea 2023 Japanese, Korean 142’ International premiere | Documentary form

With

  • Kim Seong-soo
  • Hirano Nobuto
  • Jeon Dong-rye
  • Lee Yong-im
  • Seo Jeong-woo
  • Kim Jeong-soon
  • Lee Ok-seon

Crew

Directors Park Soo-nam, Park Maeui
Cinematography Shinji Teruya, Park Maeui, Kim Im-man, Kim Myeong-yoon, Koshiro Otsu
Editing Park Maeui
Music Mi Yeon
Producers Park Soo-nam, Park Maeui, Emi Ueyama

World sales

ARTicle Films

Photos

Park Soo-nam

Born in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan in 1935 as a second-generation Korean-Japanese. Her book “Crime, Death and Love” (1963) focused on a Korean-Japanese death row inmate. In “Joseon Hiroshima Banilbonin Nae Yeohaengui Girok” (1973), she deals with the experiences of Korean victims of the atomic bombing in Hiroshima. In 1986, she made her debut as a documentary director with The Other Hiroshima – Korean A-bomb Victims Tell Their Story.

Filmography

1986 The Other Hiroshima – Korean A-bomb Victims Tell Their Story; documentary 1991 Song of Ariran – Voices from Okinawa; documentary 2012 Nuchigafu – Life is a Treasure “Gyokusai” Stories in the Battle of Okinawa; documentary 2017 The Silence; documentary 2023 Voices of the Silenced; documentary

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2024

Park Maeui

Born in 1968. Park Soo-nam’s daughter has collaborated since her teenage years with her mother on a number of film productions. When her mother lost her eyesight, she took on tasks related to video editing and film restoration. She served as the associate director for Nuchigafu – Life Is a Treasure “Gyokusai” Stories in the Battle of Okinawa (2012) and handled the editing and producing for The Silence (2017).

Filmography

2023 Voices of the Silenced; documentary

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2024