Cannes Film Festival (Emerging Filmmaker Showcase) 2019 – Where I Was Born
Through short, humorous vignettes, one presents a critique of the diverse social issues permeating throughout South Korean culture.
Interview with Director/Producer/Editor/Animator Jungmin Cha
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
I’m a current mfa2 student studying Experimental Animation at CalArts. In our program, it is required to make a short film in the first year and this film was made as my first year short film when I was a mfa1 student last year.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
First off, Where I Was Born is fun to watch. In every vignette, green blob characters are doing hilarious stuff and it makes the audience be curious, wondering what on earth they are up to.
However, there is something more than just fun. There are hidden stories which are comparably dark and serious. My film intends to give complex feelings to the audience. Though starting with laughter, you might end up with somewhat uncomfortable feeling, thinking 'Is this supposed to be a fun film to laugh at?'. I wish the audience ask this question to themselves, resulting in having a curiosity to watch the film again.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
As a filmmaker born in South Korea, I'm interested in talking about my society through my film. I think this interest results from my realization that society is not as ideal or perfect as I expected when I was a kid. For example, there are people forcing others to drink in required company staff gathering or hiding cameras around a public restroom and uploading the photos to the world wide web. These are things that I've seen and experienced while living in South Korea and let me make a film talking about these social issues using the animation method as a tool to deliver the story. At the same time, though my film is mainly based on the South Korean culture, people from different cultures can also relate to my film, because there are some global social issues involved, like smoking in the public places or insufferable rush hour traffic.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
The process was not easy at all. I suffered from many trial and error from the early beginning and literally changed my idea more than five times. Out of them, I ended up choosing one, which was to make a film about animals from Korea's old folk paintings using state-of-the-art technology in vignettes. I thought it'd be funny and interesting combining two incompatible aspects (ancient creatures using modern technology) together. Though my idea completely changed as developed, I think I stuck to one thing: I want to make a film that people can enjoy watching.
Since I intended to include many different social issues within my film, I chose to use a vignette style and started with making a list of social issues permeating throughout the South Korean culture. At first, there were more than 20, but I reduced them to 7-8, considering the balance between each scene. I also tried to sort out scenes that are relevant to me, based on my personal experience. Among them, the 'hidden camera photo' scene was the first social incident I came up with. It's because this issue has become really serious in South Korea and as a woman, I was always terrified and felt unsafe going to public restrooms when I was in Korea.
The order of the scenes was made after I finished animating and coloring because I'm bad at the pre-production stage and usually don't plan things thoroughly in advance. So if the timing was off, I had to animate more or cut off scenes I had finished making. I know it is not the best way to work, but I think this is just how I work. I just cannot keep everything in track before I dive into something and actually start animating stuff, though I always have to do some extra work.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
I've heard a lot of positive feedback about my green, blob characters. People think they look interesting and I'm glad people like that simpleness. Also, I heard some feedbacks about the twist at the end. Lots of people say they think the film is just funny at first, but it gets serious as the story develops and has some darkness behind.
In addition, there was feedback about the title, saying that the title helped a lot to understand what my film was about. There were some people who wished to see the title earlier, so it would help them understand the film from the beginning. This made me think about the importance of the title and where to place it. I also realized that if cleverly used, titles can be essential to explain something that is not directly or visually included in films.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
Balancing humorous aspects and dark social issues was a real challenge for me. I'm really grateful that people not only have fun watching my film but also catch the dark reality hidden beneath the humor.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
I think animation is a very powerful tool to deliver stories to people around the world because there are no language boundaries when using visual language. That is why one of the greatest compliments I've heard about my film is that people understand and relate to my film though they're from different cultural backgrounds from South Korea. I wish more people watch my film via this website, have fun, and also relate to societies where they were born.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
There are so many great films in the world that are hidden and unseen because they haven't got any chance to get a spotlight. In this context, I think coming on board with people from the film industry is very important and meaningful to achieve the goal, to amplify the film's message.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
Through this film, I addressed various social issues by presenting them with a humorous tone to punctuate the gravity of the dark reality. Perhaps not to necessarily solve anything, but to rather at least present the issues that I am strongly connected to. I wish the audience watch my film and have an opportunity to be aware, or look back on diverse social issues around us.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
My film is highly reflective on social, cultural issues and as mentioned, my realization of the dark society inspired me to make the film. Therefore some questions about the reason why I made this film, or the motivation for my filmmaking might be helpful to begin a conversation.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Currently, I'm working on my thesis film. Details have not been made, but it is going to be about my grandmother, who is a separate family suffering from the Korean War. Similar to this film, my thesis film is also including dark realities, and I want it to be as interesting and fun as Where I was born. I think figuring out another great way to deliver serious, dark issues in a humorous way will be a challenge for me in the future.
Interview: May 2019
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
Where I Was Born
Through short, humorous vignettes, one presents a critique of the diverse social issues permeating throughout South Korean culture.
Length: 4:26
Director: Jungmin Cha
Producer: Jungmin Cha
Writer: Jungmin Cha
About the writer, director and producer:
JUNGMIN CHA is a filmmaker and animator, born in Seoul, South Korea. She received her BA degree in Television & Film from Ewha Womans University in Seoul in 2017. She is a current MFA2 student in the Experimental Animation program at CalArts in Los Angeles, California.
Key cast: Seunghee Han-Seo (voices), Aidan Reynolds (mix), Sinae Ahn (music), Chansoo Gong (music)
Looking for: film festival directors
Facebook: Jungmin Cha
Instagram: @jmchaaaaa
Hashtags used: #animation#shortfilm#animatedfilm
Website: www.jungmincha.com
Other: Vimeo
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? Emerging Filmmaker Showcase at the Cannes Film Festival/Cannes, France - May 21st; CalArts Experimental Animation Showcase/LA, California USA - May 10th; Fest Anca/Žilina, Slovakia - June 6th.