Ga-Ram Kangyu | 2016 | Zuid-Korea | 98' | EN subs

Welcome to the second collaborative instalment between Filmhuis Cavia and Asian Movie Night [www.instagram.com/asian.movie.night/]. On a monthly basis we screen selected films from various Asian countries.

This time we introduce the documentary film Itaewon directed by Ga-Ram Kangyu from South Korea. It shows the story of three women who have lived in Itaewon, the most multicultural and thus discriminatory neighbourhood in Seoul since the days the U.S. dollar ruled. Korea’s flair for creating compelling thrillers is internationally recognised for some time now, with successes such as Parasite and Netflix's recent hit show the Squid Game. Both deal with social precarity under the neoliberal capitalism. However, feature films like these move away from Koreas specific cultural references and create their own fabricated worlds. In order to understand Korea's characteristic films, we need to know where the infamous violence and humour come from. Itaewon is not a fiction. It is a neighbourhood that shows how Korea's post war trauma neglects personal histories by bluntly adopting neo-imperial refiguration and capitalism. This film is a good way to contextualise the current global K-syndrome by listening to the stories of local voices from Korea.