International Competition

PLANET OF SNAIL

Seung-Jun Yi
Screening time  
27.02. / Monday, 20:00 - 22:00 Theatre 4  
01.03. / Thursday, 18:00 - 20:00 Theatre 2  
03.03. / Saturday, 12:00 - 14:00 Theatre 4  
Young-Chan has been deaf and blind since childhood. He has no idea how to participate in the world until he meets Soon-Ho, who also has a physical handicap...

Young-Chan has been deaf and blind since childhood. He has no idea how to participate in the world until he meets Soon-Ho, who also has a physical handicap. He marries her and learns to communicate with the outside world through her. By softly tapping each other's finger, they can understand one another; it is sometimes as if they are tenderly playing a piano. This documentary follows the couple in the same gentle tempo as Young-Chan moves through his life. We see them replacing a lightbulb together, receiving friends, working on a theater piece, reading a book, and gliding on a sleigh down a mountain. These everyday scenes are accompanied by a poetic voice-over by Young-Chan, in which he reflects on his existence without sight and hearing. He feels like an astronaut, but that doesn't mean he is without a sense of beauty in the world. This becomes palpable when Young-Chan touches the bark of a tree, runs his hand through sand, or brushes raindrops on a window pane with his fingertips.

Seung-Jun Yi

Seung-Jun Yi is one of the most renown Korean directors in the world documentary scene. Amongst over a dozen documentaries Seung-Jun has directed the award winning ‘Children of God’ (2008). Seung-Jun’s interest has always focused on the life of, so called, the unseen minorities. This has become his signature style of filmmaking.

General sponsor

Planet of Snail

South Korea
2011, 87', color, video

Directed by:
Seung-Jun Yi

Cinematography:
Seung-Jun Yi

Edited by:
Seung-Jun Yi, Simon El Habre

Music:
Min Seongki

Producers:
Gary Kam, Min-Chul Kim

Produced by:
CreativEast

Festivals & Awards:

IDFA 2011 - Best Feature-Length Documentary