“My wife and I first met at a factory. It was what they call a ‘factory marriage’. Seok-hyeong, who worked at the same factory, married a ‘female factory worker’. I didn’t say the words out loud, but my wife somehow knew and left with a disdainful look on her face.”
The short story ‘Hagin’ by writer Lee Mi-sang, born in 1982, sharply mocks the 586 parents who originally intended to raise their children freely with a progressive educational philosophy but ended up leading the war of private education. Even in the hit Netflix series ‘Storm’, the beliefs of the 586 movement are crushed in the face of power. As MZ generation artists take center stage in creative platforms, works criticizing progressive elite parents are emerging. The documentary ‘Patriotic Girl’, which will be screened at the 26th Seoul International Women’s Film Festival opening on the 22nd, also started with the same awareness. This award-winning film at the DMZ International Documentary Film Festival last year captures the thoughts of the next generation after parents who participated in the democratization movement, expressed through the voice of ‘myself’.
“I followed my dad, a civil servant, wearing a hanbok and presenting flowers when foreign dignitaries visited, and I used to go to rallies with my mom, a women’s rights activist, including demonstrations to abolish the state-prescribed system. Growing up playing the role of a ‘patriotic girl’ in two senses.”
Director Nam A-reum, who met at the Hankyoreh Newspaper building in Mapo-gu, Seoul, on the 20th, completed this work after graduating from the Department of Visual Arts at the Korea National University of Arts last spring. Born as twin sisters under the parents of an 85th campus couple who fought fiercely against the dictatorship and loved each other passionately since university, he was born on November 16, 1995, the day former President Roh Tae-woo was arrested. In the film, his mother, a feminist activist who worked as a family and sexual violence counselor, narrates the news of the trials of Roh Tae-woo and Chun Doo-hwan to babies cooing, telling them to “be a good person”. His father, who passed the civil service exam after graduating from college with the intention to reform within the system, became a public official. Growing up in a democratic family atmosphere, his parents were both a hill to climb and a mountain to overcome.
“I spent my twenties experiencing bustling squares with the Sewol ferry, impeachment, and the Me Too movement. But I felt that I didn’t have my own square here. When I went to rallies as a child, I was praised for being ‘admirable’, feeling like an object without my own subjectivity, and during the Sewol ferry incident, I resented and was frustrated watching my powerless father. If I couldn’t resolve this dilemma, I couldn’t end this period, so I planned it as my graduation project.” The Sewol ferry tragedy, which occurred just after his father moved to work at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, was a decisive event that made him angry at the parents’ generation. “I heard sobbing sounds from all over during self-study time in school. I was asked to write a thank-you letter to my parents at the academy on Parents’ Day, so I sent a letter to the Sejong Government Complex where my father worked.”
‘I won’t say to my father, the official responsible for the incidents that should not be erased from Korean modern history, to cheer up. Constantly have a sense of guilt and self-blame.’ His father did not respond to the handwritten letter he wrote. After a long time, he happened to see this letter that his father had kept in a drawer next to the bed, and his work could take a radical turn. Concerned that talking about his father’s story could hurt the Sewol ferry families, he submitted a project proposal to the video contest hosted by the 416 Foundation to receive feedback, but unexpectedly received strong support with an award.
In addition to the conflict with his father, the camera captures the ‘scary’ gaze of his mother, who is often worried and timid. “My mom used to get frustrated when I hid behind the camera and scold me. Watching my always brave mother, I felt overwhelmed, thinking I couldn’t do it like her. When someone asks us to fight together, there should be an invitation language, and each person’s method of activism may vary, but not acknowledging that seems to be the contradiction of the 586 generation.”
‘Patriotic Girl’ addresses issues related to parents but is warm. It became more rounded as I edited the initial version. He doesn’t feel sorry for supporting his daughter’s choice. “It occurred to me that gaining my own subjectivity doesn’t come from killing my father, but from understanding my father’s dilemma as an individual for my growth.”
While remaining silent in response to his daughter’s questions, his father, who endures the camera pushed by his daughter, reportedly did not see the completed work. “The most important thing for an artist is freedom of expression, but my dad thought that if he saw it and gave his opinion, it would be censorship.” Standing in the midst of the recent flood of criticism, he expressed his hope that the 586 generation, who are facing criticism, would not abandon their belief in being adults who understand and bear criticism towards themselves. Like his parents who taught democracy within the family. The 26th Seoul International Women’s Film Festival will be held until the 28th at CGV Yeonnam, CGV Hongdae, and Cinecube Gwanghwamun, screening 132 films from 38 countries that tell women’s stories.
Senior Reporter Kim Eun-hye [email protected]