Director Kim So-hyung Wins Double Crowns at the 19^th Mise-en-scene Short Film Festival

Director Kim So-hyung, a graduate of the School of Film, TV & Multimedia, had a glory of winning double crowns at the 19^th Mise-en-scene Short Film Festival (MSFF) with her two different short films. Before the Summer Passes (2020) co-produced by the Korean-Japan students won in the category of A Short Film About Love, whereas Us, Day and Night (2020), Kim’s graduate film for bachelor’s degree, won in Jury’s Special Award.

Before the Summer Passes (2020) closely follows a main character’s visit to daughter living in Japan since marriage, in which she meets her young granddaughter instead. The film elaborately depicts how the two characters become closer and understand each other. The film was a result of an international project from 2019 whereby the students from the K-ARTS and the Japan Institute of the Moving Image (JIMI) formed a co-production team and started filming in Tokyo.

Besides, director Kim’s graduate film Us, Day and Night (2020) portrays a life of a couple who tries to spare an hour in the morning, only time in a day when they are both off from work, for each other. In this film, Kim So-hyung also participated in acting as one of the main characters.

Winning two crowns at a time, director Kim thanked her crew and said, “Because I wanted to have many experiences in filming and also believed I wouldn’t be able to make films as much after I graduate, I grasped for this opportunity. I worked on two films together and even played the role of the main character in one of them.” She added, “I was lucky enough to win awards this time, but I don’t think it will drastically change my life. I still aspire to be a real professional filmmaker and will always try to become one.”

The Korean-Japanese joint short-film production workshop is a part of the School of Film, TV & Multimedia curriculum beginning in 2013. As an international exchange program, the participants from the two countries create a team and co-produce a short film as they alternatively visit each other’s school every other year. The curriculum aims to strengthen students’ understanding of filmmaking practices both in Korea and Japan and build up experiences of international co-production.