[SECTION 1] Medium / 2−5 SEP
The words media and medium (psychic) have the same origin. This section consists of films that capture sorcery with filming technology or films that discuss at least the memories of sorcery. Although modern technology tries to remove elements such as shamanic rites, mystery, fantasy, and horror, these provide alluring narratives from the basis of culture. They sometimes reveal the past that people don’t want to remember, indicate places that cannot be conquered even in modern times, and maximize the value of imagination.
[SECTION 2] Asian Gothic / 11−17 SEP
Neo-gothic novels are known to reveal modern anxiety about industrialized society and technology while dealing with fantasy, outer space, trauma, mystery, horror and sublimity, frequently in Western late Romanticism literature. Ghost stories and horror movies in Korea, Japan and some Southeast Asian countries as well as countless stories of the aforementioned themes from different Asian regions share a lot with the “neo-gothic” world, but they are still different. The difference lies in everything such as the way ghosts appear and talk, historical origins of fantasy, the relation between past and present, and imagination customs about the outer world. Therefore, actually, it might be better to call “Asian Gothic” “Asian Gothic?”
[SECTION 3] Cold War Theater / 14−19 OCT
They say that the Cold War era is over but it is questionable if it is truly over. The influence of the Cold War seems to be still powerful not only in the Korean peninsula but also across Asia. Originally, the Cold War was considered to be the confrontation between powers in the Western Bloc and powers in the Eastern Bloc, but now most of its ideological aspects have disappeared and it is changing into a competition of political cultures and memories. In that sense, the Cold War can be a metaphorical “theater.”
[SECTION 4] Her Time / 4−9 NOV
Films in this section prove the value of oral statements and testimonies. Mostly through the words of grandmothers, we will get closer to a modicum of truth about what happened in the past. However, what is more important would be the long and invisible time that has passed until these testimonies are delivered to an audience through film. Before those grandmothers stood in front of cameras, many people had to go through what these women had gone through. But some people are newly born and live in the same era while knowing nothing about them.
[SECTION 5] Documentary Lab / 18−23 NOV
This section presents documentaries recently made in Jakarta and Hanoi where alternative videos are actively produced. The collection of films ‘10 Years of Video Art in Indonesia’ and Hanoi DOCLAB’s works are the results of activities that closely relate to local video education or community activities. In response to these, we selected four experimental documentaries that were recently produced in Korea.