Sanggye-Dong Olympic

Dong-won Kim / Republic of Korea (South Korea) / 1988 / Czech Premiere / 27 min.

synopsis

In preparation for the 1988 Summer Olympics, the Korean government evicted one hundred and sixty families out onto the streets. It demolished their houses in the slums of Seoul's Sanggyedong and had luxury apartments built in its place. Dongwon Kim lived with the evicted families for three years and filmed their fight against the state authorities. The alarming film reveals the averted face of a sporting event abused for ideological purposes. He ushered in a new era of Korean social documentaries, revealing the averted face of South Korea perceived as a land of fabulous wealth, happiness, and economic growth.

"The situation requires us to make films on social issues." Dongwon Kim

biography

Dongwon Kim (1955) is an activist, educator, and filmmaker engaged with making documentaries since the 1980s. His works include 63 Years On (2008) and Repatriation (2004). In 1991, he founded the production company P.U.R.N., which focuses on capturing various forms of social injustice.