Korean Cinema Stories - Saturday

KOREAN CINEMA STORIES

COMFORT WOMEN: LISTENING TO THEIR VOICES

09.30  Coffee / Registration

10.00  Introduction

Film Screening: Habitual Sadness(1997)

Director: Youngjoo Byun (71min.)

A group of elderly women sharing a common bond live peacefully alongside each other in the countryside. They are no different to the elderly women you see every day, but they all share the pain and sorrow of being comfort women during World War Two. Subject to prejudice and exclusion on their return and unable to bear children because of their ordeal, the film asks us to remember their sacrifices and the shame and misery they face, often forgotten by their own people as they pass away.

Discussion (45 min.)

Moderated by Hyangjin Lee

Director  Youngjoo Byun, a founder member of the women’s feminist film organization ‘Bariteo’ and director of theThe Murmuring will lead a discussion about the issues of women’s rights in her documentary films. Her most recent film,Helpless (2012), won the 2012 Baeksang Arts Awards and Women in Film Korea Awards.

Film Screening: 63 Years On (2008)

Director: Dong-won Kim   (60 mins)

This film contains in-depth interviews with five comfort women from various countries, including Korea, China, the Philippines. The stories are contextualised within the historical narrative of World War Two by use of archive footage and photographs.

Discussion (45 min.)

Moderated byMinkyu Kim

Director Dong-won Kim is a prolific independent filmmaker who deals with social issues including  urban poverty and North Korea. Known for his humanist, philosophical filmmaking style, his camera dwells frequently on marginalized and declassed populations. His best known film,Repatriation (2003) won the Freedom of Expression Award at the 2004 Sundance International Film Festival.

Film Screening: My Heart Is Not Broken Yet (2007)

Director: Hae-ryong Ahn (95 min)

The film centres on Grandma Song Sin-do who, with support from a group of Japanese citizens, campaigns for human rights and official apology from Japan for comfort women. Taking the unconventional stance that both comfort women and soldiers were victims of war, she involves several veteran Japanese soldiers in her discussions.

Discussion (45 min.)

Moderator Yuko Kawai

Chingja Yang who shot and producedMy Heart is Not Broken Yet is a founding member of the ‘Our Women Network’ and ‘Organization of supporters of the Korean-Japanese comfort women’ in Japan.

Professor Kawai is an associate professor at the College of Intercultural Communication, Rikkyo University.

This is a rare opportunity to spend a day viewing and discussing three films on the issue of comfort women. The event will be led by Professor Hyangjin Lee from Rikkyo University in Tokyo. Professor Lee was formerly at Sheffield University and has recently completed a year at Harvard University (2015 Kim Koo Visiting Professor).

This event is FREE but booking is advisable.

This event is organised by the following Partner Organisations:

Northeast History Foundation

Rikkyo University, Tokyo

Showroom Workstation

And in association with:

Sheffield Hallam University