Asian Cinema Fund

ACF Asian Cinema Fund

Asian Network of Documentary(AND) Fund

2016 Asian Network of Documentary (AND) Fund

LIST Ne me quitte pas

Category	BIFF Mecenat Fund
Project	Ne me quitte pas
Director	PARK Kyoung Tae
Country	Korea
Director's Profile	Park Kyoung Tae made his feature debut with the documentary Me and Owl (2003), a work on women who live in camp towns developed around U.S. military base, followed by There is (2005) dealing with people of mixed races. In 2007, he created an archive exhibition Homecoming Box and directed Old Soldiers Never Die, they Only on veterans of the Vietnam War. In 2008, he co-directed A Nice Place with Jo Eun. Tour of Duty, a work he co-directed with Kim Dong-ryeong in 2013, was shown in the Busan International Film Festival and won the Jury’s Special Prize at Yamagata International Documentary Festival. He is continuing his exploration on creating films in collaboration with women of the areas surrounding the U.S. military bases. He is also producing documentaries and pursuing studies and writings on anthropological issues.

Synopsis: In 1947 during the ruling of U.S. military government, B was born as the eldest daughter of Chohyang, a kisaeng (courtesan, professional female entertainer) residing around Gyeongbok Palace. She was a beautiful girl, having inherited the fine features from her mother. When she was 16 years old, she meets an American soldier while working at a photo studio near Yongsan and instantly falls in love with him. Ever since then she lives on as a ‘Yanggongju’ (foreigner’s whore) around Itaewon and Samgakji area. Although her first love leaves her after finishing his duties in Korea, B carries on with this repeated cycle of falling in love and breaking up with other soldiers. In 1972, she publishes an essay book telling stories of her own life and receives sudden public attention. Her essay becomes a bestseller known for its provocative sex scenes and melodramatic sentiment and soon is planned to be cinematized. Yet, out of nowhere, B disappears and everything falls into chaos. Through the archives left by the US military, memoirs of women and mixed race people of the surrounding areas and remaining news articles, the film traces the past and faces the disappeared B.

Director's Note: Focusing on an area in Seoul called Yongsan, the film explores spaces and memories that have been considered to be clandestine ever since the Korean liberation. The work examines a new spatial relationship of love and labor born after the stationing of U.S. military base camp. Through the trajectory of a fictional writer, B, the past is reconstructed.

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