ID :
54327
Wed, 04/08/2009 - 09:58
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/54327
The shortlink copeid
Director focuses on plight of fishermen impacted by coast project
By Shin Hae-in
SEOUL, April 7 (Yonhap) -- Even after a decade, the coast keeps calling him back.
He has shot nearly 800 hours of video featuring fishermen stripped of their
livelihoods by a government-led project along the shores of Korea's South Jeolla
Province. But director Lee Gang-gil feels he still has more to say.
"The area is now in a coma. With further construction, the last respirator will
be taken away, killing the region permanently," Lee told reporters after a
preview of his documentary Monday night. "The Saemangeum region is like a desert
now, but many people still live there and depend on it. I plan to keep on talking
about it until I have nothing more to say."
Under a plan initiated in 1991, the Saemangeum dike was completed in 2006 with
the goal of converting about 400,000 square meters of mud flats into farmland and
a freshwater lake. Ground was broken earlier this year for the next phase of the
plan, which will include the construction of an industrial complex by 2018.
Media have highlighted the cries of local environmentalists, who have fiercely
criticized the project, saying it is eradicating the habitats of migratory birds,
mollusks and fish.
What have barely registered a blip, however, are the voices of the fishermen and
clam diggers who for generations have made their living along the shore.
In "To Live" (Salgiwihae) -- winner of the 2007 Green Film Festival in Seoul, the
2007 Seoul Independent Film Festival and Japan's Earth Vision last year -- Lee
gives these unheard villagers a platform to voice their anger and despair, but
also their hope that they will be able pick up the pieces.
"When there's a controversy, we normally think black and white. I wanted to
examine the issue further and show the hidden aspects of the dispute," the
director said.
Lee Sun-deok, an outspoken fisherman's wife who leads the film, calls the area
blocked off by the 33 kilometer dike a "tomb."
"I don't know how else to call it," she says. "It is the grave of all the sea
life it killed."
While closely tracing the villagers' frustration and protests, the documentary
also focuses on angles that show how even people on the same side can have
opposing ideas.
Ordinary villagers are focused on convincing the government to open up the dike
and keep the flats alive, but village leaders begin to think more about receiving
compensation by using the media.
"How could you do this to us? Why can't you understand compensation won't do any
good? What are you going to live on now?" a sturdy-looking fisherman cries out in
the film, tears streaming down his face.
As the dispute wears on, the dike is completed and environmental activists begin
to abandon the region one by one, saying there is "nothing more" they can do.
"I did not mean to criticize the village leaders," director Lee said. "They all
started off with the same goal, but once one is given a leading position, it is
easy for him to be tempted by outside influence."
"The blame should not fall on them, but on environmentalists, activists and
people like us who failed to support them and keep them on track," he added. "It
was perhaps our fault more than anyone else's."
Lee said he debated whether to put his camera down and join the fisherman when
they staged a desperate protest on the dike a few days ahead of its completion,
with the coast guard trying to pull them down.
"The people of Saemangeum are like family to me," he said. "As long as they
continue to live there, I will keep on talking."
Dubbed a "fisherman with a camera," Lee has made two other documentaries on the
Saemangeum issue, in 2001 and 2004. "To Live" was completed in 2006, but its
release was delayed due to the unpopularity of independent films at the box
office.
"I don't regard this film as informative, as I mainly targeted people who are
closely related to and aware of this issue," Lee said. "But the film will provide
ordinary audiences with something to think about and seek an answer to."
The film, with a running-time of 75 minutes, will open at dozens of local
theaters, including Indispace in central Seoul, on April 16.
SEOUL, April 7 (Yonhap) -- Even after a decade, the coast keeps calling him back.
He has shot nearly 800 hours of video featuring fishermen stripped of their
livelihoods by a government-led project along the shores of Korea's South Jeolla
Province. But director Lee Gang-gil feels he still has more to say.
"The area is now in a coma. With further construction, the last respirator will
be taken away, killing the region permanently," Lee told reporters after a
preview of his documentary Monday night. "The Saemangeum region is like a desert
now, but many people still live there and depend on it. I plan to keep on talking
about it until I have nothing more to say."
Under a plan initiated in 1991, the Saemangeum dike was completed in 2006 with
the goal of converting about 400,000 square meters of mud flats into farmland and
a freshwater lake. Ground was broken earlier this year for the next phase of the
plan, which will include the construction of an industrial complex by 2018.
Media have highlighted the cries of local environmentalists, who have fiercely
criticized the project, saying it is eradicating the habitats of migratory birds,
mollusks and fish.
What have barely registered a blip, however, are the voices of the fishermen and
clam diggers who for generations have made their living along the shore.
In "To Live" (Salgiwihae) -- winner of the 2007 Green Film Festival in Seoul, the
2007 Seoul Independent Film Festival and Japan's Earth Vision last year -- Lee
gives these unheard villagers a platform to voice their anger and despair, but
also their hope that they will be able pick up the pieces.
"When there's a controversy, we normally think black and white. I wanted to
examine the issue further and show the hidden aspects of the dispute," the
director said.
Lee Sun-deok, an outspoken fisherman's wife who leads the film, calls the area
blocked off by the 33 kilometer dike a "tomb."
"I don't know how else to call it," she says. "It is the grave of all the sea
life it killed."
While closely tracing the villagers' frustration and protests, the documentary
also focuses on angles that show how even people on the same side can have
opposing ideas.
Ordinary villagers are focused on convincing the government to open up the dike
and keep the flats alive, but village leaders begin to think more about receiving
compensation by using the media.
"How could you do this to us? Why can't you understand compensation won't do any
good? What are you going to live on now?" a sturdy-looking fisherman cries out in
the film, tears streaming down his face.
As the dispute wears on, the dike is completed and environmental activists begin
to abandon the region one by one, saying there is "nothing more" they can do.
"I did not mean to criticize the village leaders," director Lee said. "They all
started off with the same goal, but once one is given a leading position, it is
easy for him to be tempted by outside influence."
"The blame should not fall on them, but on environmentalists, activists and
people like us who failed to support them and keep them on track," he added. "It
was perhaps our fault more than anyone else's."
Lee said he debated whether to put his camera down and join the fisherman when
they staged a desperate protest on the dike a few days ahead of its completion,
with the coast guard trying to pull them down.
"The people of Saemangeum are like family to me," he said. "As long as they
continue to live there, I will keep on talking."
Dubbed a "fisherman with a camera," Lee has made two other documentaries on the
Saemangeum issue, in 2001 and 2004. "To Live" was completed in 2006, but its
release was delayed due to the unpopularity of independent films at the box
office.
"I don't regard this film as informative, as I mainly targeted people who are
closely related to and aware of this issue," Lee said. "But the film will provide
ordinary audiences with something to think about and seek an answer to."
The film, with a running-time of 75 minutes, will open at dozens of local
theaters, including Indispace in central Seoul, on April 16.
