Cultural Storytellers: Kiyong Park

The Christchurch earthquake has been foremost in our minds for the last few months. No doubt the powerful and poignant stories from this event will continue to be explored in our media and arts for a long time.

One of the first offerings is the documentary Moving, about a Korean immigrant family in the aftermath of the quake. Renee Liang spoke to filmmaker Kiyong Park.

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Film fever has hit Auckland as the NZ International Film Festival celebrates its 43rd event.

Among the local offerings is a documentary called Moving, made by visiting Korean filmmaker Kiyong Park, about a Korean immigrant family in Christchurch and their response to losing their livelihood in the February 22 quake.

Seen through the lens of this one family, Jung Jin-Sung and Lee Kyung-Mee and their two sons, the loss suffered by hundreds of thousands of people is more clearly focussed.  But the story of this family also offers some insights into a group of people not normally given (or perhaps, claiming) a voice in our culture.

In his film, Kiyong asks, “Migrants have often left much behind - emotionally, physically and financially - to start new lives and exist without the support networks of extended family and old friends. How do they cope with the trauma, loss and ongoing physical upheaval and sense of dislocation wrought by a natural disaster so severe that even established, lifelong residents have fled elsewhere?”

I asked Kiyong some questions ahead of the world premiere of the film, at the New Zealand International Film Festival in Auckland on July 28.

What's your approach to making a documentary?

First, I look for an interesting story, and then, as I make the film, try to find a right style that matches the story.

Do you see yourself as a passive observer, or an activist?

I regard myself as an observer: I think documentary is observing, and letting the audience make the judgements.

Do you think that all "immigrant stories" are the same? or is the Korean "immigration experience" influenced by some special factors?

It is more-or-less the same, but each ethnic and national group has uniqueness of their own.

How did you meet the subjects of your documentary?

I was introduced by a local Korean journalist friend.

What made you decide to focus your storytelling on them?

They were the best story tellers.

How have they reacted to the upcoming public screening of their story, given they come from a community which often keeps its views private?

They were a bit amazed and confounded by the media coverage in the beginning, they hadn’t thought of the film to receive a nationwide attention, but, soon after, seems to have gotten used to it.

How has the Korean community reacted?

I don’t know. Nobody from the Korean community has seen it yet.

What made you want to become a filmmaker?

To make the long story short, I wanted to tell my stories.

What makes you choose to tell a story as documentary, rather than as fictional feature?

It was because of my present circumstances: I’m here for a short term as a visiting research fellow; I only have a simple DSLR camera; I have almost no budget; I have to do everything by myself.

What other projects are you working on?

Now, I'm working on a new narrative film which I plan to start production by the end of this year in Korea. By the way, I'm returning to Korea at the end of August.

Further information:

Moving premieres at Academy Cinema in Auckland, 6 pm July 28 (second screening 3.45 pm July 29) Tickets from Ticketek (0800 TICKETEK) before travelling to other regions, including Christchurch, as part of the NZ International Film Festival.

The NZIFF screens in Christchurch at Hoyts Northlands from August 12 to 28.

Park has featured at the Festival before with Camel(s) in 2001. He is currently at the University of Auckland on a research fellowship.