| Project |
A Taegueki Boy
| No. |
18 |
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Director
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JEONG Heejae |
| Country |
Korea |
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| Producer |
SEO Yunhee |
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| Production Company |
To be determined |
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| Writer |
JEONG Heejae |
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| Genre |
Drama |
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| Running time |
100′ |
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| Project Status | Script Development |
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Director’s Profile
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Born in Seoul, Jeong Heejae studied film at Korea National University of Arts. She directed two shorts films, Bokja (2008) and A Company on a Dead Gloomy Night (2011), before her feature debut with A Haunting Hitchhike (2017), supported by Asian Cinema Fund 2017, which premiered in the Korean Cinema Today - Vision at Busan International Film Festival 2017, and was chosen as Best Indie Film at Lotte Creative Contest 2017. The film also attracted international acclaim, winning a Special Jury Prize at Eurasia International Film Festival 2018. |
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Producer’s Profile
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Having worked for KT&G Sangsangmadang and Contents Panda (a Next Entertainment World subsidiary), Seo Yunhee invested in, distributed, and marketed Korean films, such as The Russian Novel (Shin Younshick, 2012), The King of Jokgu (Woo Moon-gi, 2013), The Queen of Crime (Lee Yo-sup, 2016), and more. She is now developing feature project Bodybuilder with 100% Sausage Production, and is a producer on A Taegueki Boy. |
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Synopsis |
22-year-old Sang-min has been preparing for the civil service exam for three years. Receiving anonymous attention by commenting on web-sites is his only joy in life. One day, at an employment fair hosted by Seoul City Hall, Sang-min accidentally picks up the employee ID of Kim Woo-sung, a public official in the Department of the Environment. Just for fun, Sang-min enters Woo-sung’s office and sits at his desk. Imagining what it would be like to be a civil servant, he accesses Woo-sung’s computer. He discovers that Woo-sung is actually a North Korean Refugee and policy-maker for Hwang Nak-soon, a Seoul Mayoral candidate of the Progressive Party, and that Woo-sung’s sister is now attempting to escape from North Korea to join her brother in Seoul. Soon Sang-min is caught by other workers in the office, but with the help of Woo-sung, he is allowed to leave without further trouble. From that day onwards, Woo-sung’s strength and confidence preoccupies Sang-min.
As it happens, Hwang Nak-soon is the prime target of the site where he usually leaves comments. To gain more attention on the site, he posts a false story about Hwang Nak-soon, based on the information he obtained from Woo-sung’s computer. The posting goes viral, and makes Sang-min a celebrity on the site. It catches the eye of Chang-woo, the web-site operator, who holds extreme right-wing views. When Chang-woo contacts Sang-min, Sang-min is fascinated by Chang-woo, a seemingly great activist working for a worthy cause. Sang-min starts to dream that he could take on an important role in aiding Chang-woo’s admirable work…
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Director’s Statement |
In the age of Millennials, when economic growth and youth unemployment are negatively correlated, the futile desire for a better life burns out young people. Deep in their exhausted minds, distorted beliefs easily take root, and people wander aimlessly in search of anything to boost their morale. Spewing extreme hate at random targets becomes an alternative means by which to satisfy their desires. Detesting others becomes their reason to be. The mismatch of distorted faith and irrational hatred soon begets violence.
Where does this negativity come from?
What will be the outcome when we unleash our rage upon one another?
How can we break this cycle of hatred in order to build solidarity?
The hope is that the experience of this film will encourage people to ask these questions.
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