Edinburgh 2013: Virgin Forest (원시림, 2012)

Part of Connor McMorran's coverage for MKC of the Edinburgh International Film Festival (June 19-30, 2013).

Perhaps because of his long-term struggle with leukaemia, highly influential film theorist Andre Bazin based a lot of his ideas around the concept of death. More specifically, he argued that film could be seen as a way to embalm time, capture time and allow people to linger in the memories of others following their death, just as portraits, or embalming, had done in the past. As technology progresses at an astonishing rate, the moving image, and with it the photographic image, has become ever present in society, capturing almost anything and everything in our world.

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Jeonju 2013: Experimental Echo of Dragon Explores Myths and Emotion (용문, 2013)

Part of MKC's coverage of the 14th Jeonju International Film Festival.

When it comes to what we expect to see on screen, it’s worth considering sometimes just how strict we can be. Though we demand filmmakers to be creative, our definition of originality is actually quite narrow. As the lights dim and projectors roll, we wait for characters to show up and guide us along through their world and regale, sadden or shock us with their stories. Like many others I often lament the lack of ingenuity that plagues much of modern cinema but stick me in front of a film that does away with all standard forms of narrative (as we know them today) and suddenly I’m at a loss to process what’s unspooling before me.

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