I just came back from the premiere of "Sewol" and I wanted to jot down my impressions while they are strongest. The screening took place in the Moviemento, Germany's oldest movie theater, and although it is not the biggest cinema in Berlin, it was nearly a sold out. I find it hard to judge a documentary with IMDb stars, as it was not made to please and entertain, so you should ignore the rating and decide from the content description whether this for you.
The motor vessel Sewol was a ferry that capsized April 16th, 2014, with more than 300 casualties, most of them secondary school students from the Danwon High School in Ansan. The documentary follows the children's parents, who are tormented by the dubiety that was caused by the gloss over media coverage as well as the unresponsiveness of the policy makers, and demand answers.
There have been several steps building up to this tragedy, each indicating forms of misconduct: the reasons of how this ship could capsize in open waters; the time the captain hesitated before initiating the evacuation measure and then saving himself first; the mass media reporting ongoing rescue measures that never happened; the chaos in the organizational structure that prevented possible measures in good time; finally the denied responsibility of the government and the total lack of an emergency plan. The film documents the efforts of the mass media to divert all attention from this question, focusing instead on the shipping company owner, leave the growing protests out of their coverage or even accusing the parents actually just being interested in more compensation money.
The documentary runs the gamut from emotion to the political. The first scene, where we watch a group of young teenagers singing songs, getting excited about butterflies and kid around, comes as a punch in the gut once you realize they died on the Sewol. We listen to parents remembering the emotions and hopes, when they listened to reports on rescue measures that actually never happened, the devastation having to accept the truth, their way to get answers from the government and being rebuked. The film records statements from a journalist, a psychotherapist, and students as well adding to our understanding of the situation that escalated when the government denied family and friends the clarification of the facts. Although the documentary's main concern is the Sewol tragedy and its mismanagement, it thus has a connection to the currently orchestrated actions against "Fake News" and independent researchers questioning the view of the government mainstream media. Last but not least, the mishandling of the Sewol incident is a crucial point in the current impeachments proceedings against President Park Geun-hye.
"Sewol" is director Jeong OK-Hees first documentary. For Korean audience, it is probably less about many new facts but a chronicle of this national trauma. For people interested in things Korea, it will provide a better understanding of the Sewol incident – as foreign media coverage merely took notice of the sinking – and its aftermath and what it meant for Koreans.
The motor vessel Sewol was a ferry that capsized April 16th, 2014, with more than 300 casualties, most of them secondary school students from the Danwon High School in Ansan. The documentary follows the children's parents, who are tormented by the dubiety that was caused by the gloss over media coverage as well as the unresponsiveness of the policy makers, and demand answers.
There have been several steps building up to this tragedy, each indicating forms of misconduct: the reasons of how this ship could capsize in open waters; the time the captain hesitated before initiating the evacuation measure and then saving himself first; the mass media reporting ongoing rescue measures that never happened; the chaos in the organizational structure that prevented possible measures in good time; finally the denied responsibility of the government and the total lack of an emergency plan. The film documents the efforts of the mass media to divert all attention from this question, focusing instead on the shipping company owner, leave the growing protests out of their coverage or even accusing the parents actually just being interested in more compensation money.
The documentary runs the gamut from emotion to the political. The first scene, where we watch a group of young teenagers singing songs, getting excited about butterflies and kid around, comes as a punch in the gut once you realize they died on the Sewol. We listen to parents remembering the emotions and hopes, when they listened to reports on rescue measures that actually never happened, the devastation having to accept the truth, their way to get answers from the government and being rebuked. The film records statements from a journalist, a psychotherapist, and students as well adding to our understanding of the situation that escalated when the government denied family and friends the clarification of the facts. Although the documentary's main concern is the Sewol tragedy and its mismanagement, it thus has a connection to the currently orchestrated actions against "Fake News" and independent researchers questioning the view of the government mainstream media. Last but not least, the mishandling of the Sewol incident is a crucial point in the current impeachments proceedings against President Park Geun-hye.
"Sewol" is director Jeong OK-Hees first documentary. For Korean audience, it is probably less about many new facts but a chronicle of this national trauma. For people interested in things Korea, it will provide a better understanding of the Sewol incident – as foreign media coverage merely took notice of the sinking – and its aftermath and what it meant for Koreans.
