Short of the Week: A South Korean gem by Kim Bora
South Korean filmmaker Kim Bora has only directed two projects in her nascent career, but she has already garnered critical attention and acclaim. A graduate of Columbia University’s prestigious film school, she has won top accolades at various film festivals for the refreshing authenticity of her cinematic vision.
Kim Bora’s 2018 feature House of Hummingbird is the film that established her as a promising new voice but for this edition of Short of the Week, we have selected the short film that started it all. Titled The Recorder Exam, it chronicles the journey of a young girl who tries to make sense of her existence while trying to deal with her dysfunctional family.
In an interview, the director said: “From my understanding, there is already quite a lot of independent films with adolescent girls as protagonists. Women have been telling such stories all this time. Couldn’t it be that this period has become more visible as our society is changing? Most of the film markets all over the world are dominated by white men’s stories, and after them come white women, and then Asian men, in this order”.
The Recorder Exam is contextualised within the historical framework of the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. While the general discourse confronts grand subjects such as national glory and international politics, Kim Bora is more interested in the personal challenges of an elementary schooler who tries her best to prepare for her music exam.
The filmmaker added: “Seeing this character being accepted as if she was real filled me with joy, and by extension I became interested too in the way she would grow up. And so, using this as a starting point, I ended up making House of Hummingbird. The question that was asked with The Recorder Exam was, ‘Would we be capable to say of the small journey of a child that it is minor in comparison to a big national event?'”
The New Wave in South Korean cinema has popularised a unique form of social drama, and it looks like Kim Bora has carved out a place for herself within that domain. The Recorder Exam is a truly memorable examination of family dynamics and the inherently patriarchal social structure that tries to control young girls everywhere.
Watch the short film below.
