APM - Asian Project Market

2023 Project

Logline

Can Chang-woo, a vocational high school student, do well enough in his field training during his last semester to succeed in getting a job or entering college?

Synopsis

Chang-woo, a senior at a vocational high school, wants to be recognized by his mother as a good son. He starts field training at a subcontractor for a large company, hoping to solve the problems of getting into college or finding decent employment. While learning about work and human relations from his senior workers, Chang-woo finds himself siding with the non-contract staff, and fails to get into college, secure a job, or deal with the problem of his military service. However, Chang-woo eventually finds a job that he likes and develops a sense of pride in his work. He moves out of his mother’s home in search of a new life.

Director's Statement

What does the labor landscape of the ′Working Poor′ era look like, when viewed by people newly entering the workforce? Aren′t they going to grow into workers with "class consciousness" through sharing in the unstable lives of the working classes, of which they are becoming a part, with an attitude of sympathy? Through the experiences of a vocational high school student who has never had any money and never been academically-minded in his life, I want to convey my pride in those workers who must deal with the contempt and shame of living in an unjust meritocracy.

Producer's Statement

In the past few years, the deaths of vocational high school field trainees and young workers in Korea have been reported in the news. In Korean society, in which all teenagers are supposed to be preparing for college entrance exams, it is regrettable that the only time we think about "vocational high school students" seem to be when there is news of fatalities caused by industrial accidents. Looking at the records of the deaths of field trainees and young workers, I wanted to portray the lives of the young people who were friends or schoolmates of the deceased. I would like to talk about vocational high school teenagers as "living" rather than "dead." I would like to focus on the stories of these fresh-faced teens, just entering society; what they go through upon taking off their uniforms and donning their working clothes, and how they deal with the hidden problems they carry inside.

Director's Profile

Producer's Profile