Voices of the Silenced

Park Soo-nam was many things in her long life: a writer, single mother, BBQ restaurant owner, activist and above all a documentary film-maker. Now she’s well into her eighties and losing her eyesight. With great care, love and a shared sense of humour, her daughter Park Maeui takes on the transgenerational task of conveying her mother’s important legacy to our present times, in which fascism and militarism are on the rise worldwide. This film, made with and about her mother, opens up a rich, decolonial archive: born in Japan as the descendant of Korean immigrants from the colonial period, Park Soo-nam made it her life’s work to document her community’s experiences of violence that had been repressed by Japanese society. She interviewed countless contemporary witnesses: survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, of massacres, forced labour, forced mobilisation and 'comfort women' (sex slaves). This collaborative film, and her mother’s film material in it, document an alternative history and preserve that community’s memories. Alongside the words of those who suffered injury to life and limb, their work together focuses on the expressive power of the body. (Gaby Babić)

Park Soo-nam, born in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan in 1935 as a second-generation Korean-Japanese. Her book “Crime, Death and Love” (1963) focused on a Korean-Japanese death row inmate. In “Joseon Hiroshima Banilbonin Nae Yeohaengui Girok” (1973), she deals with the experiences of Korean victims of the atomic bombing in Hiroshima. In 1986, she made her debut as a documentary director with The Other Hiroshima - Korean A-bomb Victims Tell Their Story.

Park Maeui, born in 1968. Park Soo-nam’s daughter collaborated since her teenage years with her mother on a number of film productions. When her mother lost her eyesight, she took on tasks related to video editing and film restoration. She served as the associate director for Nuchigafu – Life Is a Treasure “Gyokusai“ Stories in the Battle of Okinawa (2012) and handled the editing and producing for The Silence (2017)

Production Park Soo-nam, Park Maeui, Emi Ueyama. Directed by Park Soo-nam, Park Maeui. Cinematography Shinji Teruya, Park Maeui, Kim Im-man, Kim Myeong-yoon, Koshiro Otsu. Editing Park Maeui. Music Mi Yeon. With Kim Seong-soo, Hirano Nobuto, Jeon Dong-rye, Lee Yong-im, Seo Jeong-woo, Kim Jeong-soon, Lee Ok-seon.

World sales ARTicle Films

Films

Park Soo-nam: 1986: The Other Hiroshima – Korean A-bomb Victims Tell Their Story (documentary). 1991: Song of Ariran – Voices from Okinawa (documentary). 2012: Nuchigafu – Life is a Treasure “Gyokusai” Stories in the Battle of Okinawa (documentary). 2017: The Silence (documentary). 2023: Voices of the Silenced.

Park Maeui: 2024: Voices of the Silenced.

Bonus Material