<Color of Korea (Saekdong)> (1976)

Director : Han Ok-hee
Year of Production : 1976
Genre : Experimental
Film Format : 16mm/Color
Running Time : 7 minutes 29 seconds

Synopsis

It shows Korea’s traditional colors and culture through the use of superimposing. It is an experimental film, which not only tries to show Korean traditional culture through the use of color, but also tries to show the modern history of Korea.

Notes

Khaidu was a feminist experimental movie group, which consisted of women who majored in Culture, Mass Communication and Audiovisual Education at Ehwa Womans University in the mid 70s. A former member of Khaidu, Director Han Ok-hee, in Color of Korea, expressed the traditional culture of Korea through modern techniques such as the coordination of colors and music and by dyeing the film. Color of Korea offers us a glimpse into the experimental movie scene in Korea at that time and gives us a taste of the work of the group, Khaidu. (Excerpt from a booklet accompanying a DVD, “Recollections of Seduction, Independent Films Vol.1 70s-80s”)

Purpose of Production

I wanted to explore the colors of Korea through this short movie. Koreans are called, ‘The White Clad Folk,’ and many people believe that white is the most Korean of all colors. But I wanted to question this thought and wanted to combine images with a variety of colors in an intensely personal manner. That’s why I searched for the colors of Korea in the colorful traditional clothes of children in their movement and play. This was my attempt 30 years ago to make a movie about the colors of Korea free from the limitations of form.

Awards and Showings at Film Festivals

Second Place at the 2nd Korean Teenage Film Festival, Opening Movie for the 30th Seoul Independent Film Festival

Director Bio : Han Ok-hi

She founded the experimental film collective, Khaidu in 1974, and worked actively as the group’s leader, directing and producing Color of Korea, as well as other works. She moved to Berlin in 1980 to work as a correspondent for the Korean Film Council. She returned to Korea in 1988 and was appointed as a preliminary judge at the Daejongsang Film Festival, a lecturer at the Theater and Film Department of Cheongju University, a censor for the Korean Broadcasting Commission and Chief of Productions for the documentary channel, CTN.