The Past is a Strange Country (2008)

Original title: 과거는 낯선 나라다 · Released 2008-03-06 · 90 min · Documentary · Rated 12 and over

On April 28, 1986, two students, twenty-year-old Kim Se-jin and Lee Jae-ho, immolated themselves to death, shouting slogans, “No war, no nuclear weapons, Yankee go home,” “U.S. sign the peace treaty with North Korea,” and “Expel American imperialists.” This took place in the midst of a public demonstration against the forced conscription of students, joined by approximately four hundred students and held at the Sinrim crossroads facing the Seoul National University main gate. The manner of their deaths, the radicalness of their slogans (they were the first overtly anti-American statements to be heard in public since the conclusion of the Korean War) deeply shocked Korean society at the time. Twenty years have since passed. The world has changed.

Directed by

Kim Eung-soo (김응수)

Written by

Kim Eung-soo (김응수)

Cinematography

Jeon Ho-sik (전호식), Kim Baek-jun (김백준)

Editing

Jeon Ho-sik (전호식), Kim Eung-soo (김응수)

Produced by

Park Ki-woong

Cast

Companies

Kim Eungsu Film, KT&G 시네마 상상마당

More films