ACF Asian Cinema Fund

Asian Network of Documentary(AND) Fund

2012

2012 Asian Network of Documentary (AND) Fund

LIST Wellang Threi (aka. Song of Life)
Category Busan Film Commission Fund
Project Wellang Threi (aka. Song of Life)
Director KIM Tae-il
Country Korea
Director's Profile KIM Tae-il. Born in 1963, Kim has been working at Purun Media. He has directed several documentaries, including Special Song of Wonjin Factory (1993), People who Crossed the Border (1995), A Mother (1995), April 9 (2000). Annyong, Sayonara (2004) was introduced in Wide Angle section of the 10th Busan International Film Festival and won the Woonpa Award. Starting with No Name Stars - a documentary about Gwangju Democratization Movement on May 18, he and his family travel all over the world and continue to explore people’s lives.
Synopsis
Threi and his wife Siley live with his parents and five children. The entire family depends on subsistence rice farming for livelihood. But the crop yields drop every year. Hoping to afford to buy rice, they plant Dum Long (cassava). Due to unusually hot weather, however, Dum Long rots rapidly and the price went down. “Why the hard working is no guarantee of self-subsistence?” The Threis haven’t found any answers on that question. Outsiders keep hijacking Bunong land of Mondulkiri and the indigenous people are losing their homes. Nevertheless, Siley doesn’t give up growing rice and starts again planting rice in the fields.
Director's Note
Mondulkiri is surrounded by jungle forest bordering Vietnam. In the past, colonialism and civil wars devastated the area. And now, invisible capital turns lives of the Bunong indigenous people in Mondulkiri upside down. I want to hear their stories told through their own voice - how this economic invasion has affected their pride and independence. Through the eyes of the Threi family, I hope we can reflect on this change disrupting the traditional Bunong way of life.
Festivals
2012 Busan International Film Festival - Wide Angle_Documentary Competition / Special Mention
2012 Seoul Independent Film Festival
2012 Seoul Independent Documentary Film & Video Festival
2013 JeJu Film Festival - Competiton
Still Cut
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