APM - Asian Project Market

 

Back to list Because I Hate Korea (aka The Cold-blooded Penguin)

Director’s Profile

Jang Kunjae graduated from the Korean Academy of Film Arts. His directorial debut, Eighteen (2009) won the Dragons and Tigers Award at the Vancouver International Film Festival 2009, the Independent Star Award at the Seoul International Film Festival 2009, and the Nuovo Cinema Award at the Pesaro International Film Festival 2010. His second film Sleepless Night (2012) won the Grand Prize & Audience Awards for Korean Film at the Jeonju International Film Festival 2012, the Student Critics Award at the Edinburgh International Film Festival 2012, and Special Mention of the Jury at the Festival des 3 Continents 2012. His latest film, A Midsummer’s Fantasia (2014), co-produced with Japanese filmmaker Kawase Naomi, won the Directors Guild of Korea Award at Busan International Film Festival 2014, the Jeonbuk Critics Forum Award at Muju Film Festival 2015, the Miglior Film Award at the Asiatica Film Mediale 2015, a FIPRESCI Award at the Korean Association of Film Critics Awards 2015, and Best Screenplay at the Busan Film Critics Association Awards 2015.

Synopsis

South Korea - A country that has been one of the fastest-growing economies in the world is now one of the unhappiest.

Gyena, a 28-year-old Korean woman, who graduated from a mediocre university, has worked for a finance company for 3 years. She is from neither a wealthy family nor a first-class university, and feels like she has no value, no influence - either good or bad - on society. She makes up her mind to leave the country, but the conditions aren’t favorable for her. Nobody around her supports her decision. Furthermore, though her hard-earned savings of $20,000 are her only means of escape, her parents’ house is designated as being in a small-unit renewal district and they ask her to invest her savings in their new house.

She’s in a relationship with Jimyung, with whom she went to university. He’s now in his senior year and unlike her, all he wants is to get a steady job and live a stable life together with her. He studies and works like a slave. Though Gyena and Jimyung live in the same country their dreams lie in very different places.

As she reaches breaking point at her workplace, Jimyung graduates from university. On his graduation day, they have dinner with his family, but Gyena is humiliated by their attitude towards her. She unilaterally makes the decision to say goodbye to him and, thinking that she cannot delay her plan any longer, boards a flight to Australia alone.

Achievements

2023 Busan International Film Festival - Opening Film

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