The Kinder Programmer
The Kinder Programmer: Programmer Karen PARK
Presenting The Kinder Programmer:
The Kinder Programmer is a project designed to bring to our audience members and subscribers recommendations from this year's selection, hand-picked by BIFF's very own programmers.
Programmer Karen PARK
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We are living in an age of chaos. Cinema, more than any other form of art, is sensitive to the world surrounding us. Through the images portrayed on the screen, we empathize with people on the other side of the globe, question why the same issues are repeated throughout history, and marvel at the microcosmos created by the filmmaker. After all, cinema is about how you shape your attitude towards the world, so perhaps we can acquire a more expansive and deeper understanding of ourselves, our society, and our world and find the unwavering way to a better future. The titles introduced below present the acute yet affectionate perspectives of the world we live in.
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin won the Best Director and Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival and instantly became one of the most sought-after documentaries of the year. You may or may not have the experience of all-night gaming, falling for a girl or guy you met on the internet, and maintaining an online persona unknown to your ‘real-life friends.’ This film is a remarkable example of how blending technology and art can open up new realms. In the cafés of the Cannes Croisette, the film that got everyone talking was The Substance. There is no doubt that Demi Moore, the starry-eyed heroine of tearjerker Ghost (1990), is officially back with the role of a lifetime. One who fights the monster becomes the monster, and this body horror concludes.
As much as Demi Moore shocked us, the honor of the most horrifying character should go to the villain of The Girl with the Needle. Without spoiling, let’s just say that this charming lady with the kindest intentions, supposedly the savior of our vulnerable protagonist, is based on the real story of an infamous criminal. Another strong performance comes from Renate Reinsve in Armand, who won the Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival with The Worst Person in the World. Director Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel, grandson of Ingmar Bergman and Liv Ullmann, took the Caméra d'Or.
Kill the Jockey is all about discovering other dimensions. Argentine cinema is flourishing and attracting international interest, and Luis Ortega does not disappoint with his latest work about a jockey’s eccentric soul-searching journey. Another odd yet colorful world is introduced to us in On Becoming a Guinea Fowl. Zambia may be unfamiliar to the audience in Korea, but unfortunately, what happens to the women in Zambia is all too familiar. Like a guinea fowl cries to warn against predators, the film sends an alarming message to fight against the established status quo.
In the cooler summertime of Iceland, When the Light Breaks delights the audience with 80 minutes of breathtaking cinematography and resonant music. The film portrays a sensitive girl overcoming an unexpected tragedy with a subtle touch. The Other One is also a heartfelt coming-of-age story, as this documentary portrays the responsibilities and guilt that burden the siblings of a special child. The camera is up-close and personal yet not overbearing because we can feel the empathy stemming from the director’s own experience.
If you prefer the dopamine rush over contemplative introspection, Kneecap would be your remedy. Tired of adults meddling and the police at their tails, a trio of Irish troublemakers make rap music in their own language and become icons of resistance. Their crazy rise to fame is no short of a mind-blowing miracle. If you consider yourself too grown up for juvenile angst but still have no idea what to do with your life, Love might be the answer. A middle-aged single woman and a gay man ponder the bitter-sweet adventures of their quest for love in the romantic boat rides on the river of Oslo.
There is a distinctive exuberance in the works of up-and-coming filmmakers. Dad Croaked on Saturday, making its world premiere in Busan, is the debut feature of Kazakh-Russian filmmaker Zaka Abdrakhmanova. Set in a small rural village like her own hometown, this is a family movie about unforgivable family members. Paul and Paulette Take a Bath, the debut feature of British-French director Jethro Massey, is an unlikely romantic comedy of two people connected by their fascination for death, set in the picturesque city of Paris.
Laurynas Bareiša won at the Venice International Film Festival with his first feature, and his second feature, Drowning Dry, made him the winner of Best Director at the Locarno International Film Festival. The film is realistic, cleverly designed, and polished like that of a veteran filmmaker. Antonella Sudasassi Furniss, winner of the Audience Award in Panorama at the Berlin International Film Festival, visits Busan with docu-fiction Memories of a Burning Body. Her sophomore feature film reminds you that the fire inside you will never burn out until you let it go. Joshua Oppenheimer is not really a newcomer, he is already well-known for his award-winning documentaries The Act of Killing (2012) and The Look of Silence (2014). His long-awaited debut fiction, The End, is a post-apocalyptic musical, and here’s the catch: Tilda Swinton sings and dances.
Cinema presents an imaginary world that makes us reflect on the real world. Harvest takes us to an obscure time in an unknown village, but the film’s clear-cut depiction of anti-alien sentiments gives goosebumps. Grey Bees is set in the days before Russia invaded Ukraine, and the loss of humanism derived from the loss of peace should ring a bell for the Korean people who have been in an ongoing war for over 70 years.
This list concludes with perhaps the most unique type of film, a documentary that is made up of only archive footage and recordings of actual historical facts. Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989 is an accumulation of 30+ years of reportings unearthed from a Swedish television newsroom. The director carefully selects and weaves a powerful story that appeals to the powers-that-be that do not cease fires in the Gaza Strip to this day.
