BIFF: Korean-Japanese Director’s Long and Winding Road to Find "Our Homeland"

Director Yang Yong-hi introduces her autobiographical fiction "Our Homeland" to reporters at the movie's press conference held during the 17th Busan International Film Festival at the Haeundae Grand Hotel in Busan, South Korea, on October 6, 2012. [BIFF]

Japanese-Korean director Yang Yong-hi has intricate national identity; She was born and raised in Japan, grew up to be told to call North Korea her ‘homeland’ and recently obtained a South Korea citizenship.

Having experienced extreme poverty in the 1960s, Yang's father had left South Korea for Japan and determined to become a pro-North Korean after receiving financial support from the reclusive nation. He sent his three sons to the country in the 1970s for a Japanese-Korean repatriation program, which was co-organized by Pyongyang and Japan.Such an unusual family history might have led Yang to reveal her unique portrayal of the North through her autobiographical documentaries, “Dear Pyongyang” (2006) and “Goodbye, Pyeongyang” (2009).

To tell the world about the long history of the Korean-Japanese people, director Yang opened a press conference for her first fiction film "Our Homeland" at Busan's Haeundae Grand Hotel in South Korea on October 6.

Actress Miyazaki Yoshiko (left) and actor Arata (right) depict the reunion of mother and son in a still-shot of "Our Homeland," which made its local premiere at the 17th Busan International Film Festival on October 6, 2012. [BIFF]

“I think the repatriation program [which sent about 94,000 Korean people living in Japan to North Korea between the 1960s and 70s] should gain more media exposure," director Yang said while explaining about the motivation for producing the film."I cannot easily give up such a large number of people that have been sent to the North. Three of them were my brother. Kim Il-sung [the first leader of North Korea] invited them to the so-called 'paradise.' I'm sure that they must have been disappointed with North Korea soon after their arriving in the country. But they had no choice but to live there for the rest of their lives. No freedom to move to other places--that was the beginning of the tragedy."

Based on Yang's real-life, the story of "Our Homeland" goes around a man named Song-ho, who was repatriated from Japan to North Korea in the 1970s. He temporally returns to Japan to visit his family and cure his brain tumor after 25 year-long exile in the communist state.

His younger sister Rie, mirroring director Yang herself, happily reunites with her brother. However, she begins to feel somewhat ambivalent to Song-ho's request for her to become a spy for North Korea.

"For me, the idea of a homeland, or hometown, is fictional. Though born and raised in South Korea, my father flew over to Japan and changed his nationality to North Korean. And he sang South Korea’s oldies in Japan until his last days," Yang said.

"My father's story is not that different with mine. Now I consider my homeland as Japan but hold a South Korea citizenship as well. So I have been wondering what fatherland, motherland and homeland mean. That is why I titled the movie as 'Our Homeland.' I'm still looking for the exact meaning of those words."

Ando Sakura (left), Arata (second to left), Miyazaki Yoshiko (second to right) and Tsukayama Masane (right) make a toast in a still-shot of "Our Homeland," which made its local premiere at the 17th Busan International Film Festival on October 6, 2012. [BIFF]

A minute after director Yang criticized Japanese-Korean repatriation program for not taking responsibility of its people, she slowly began to disclose her concerns about her relatives living in North Korea.

“My brothers and nephews began living in Pyongyang even before when I decided to make a documentary about my family. I used to worry whether they'll get harmed by the North Korean authorities because of my films," she said.

"When recording the voice-over for my first documentary 'Dear Pyongyang,' it took a long time for me to decide which title I should use to describe the former North Korean leader: the Great Leader or Comrade General."

However, the past 15 years of contemplation like those have made her stronger than ever. She has freed herself from politically sensitive thoughts and began to believe that her films will prevent the government from harming her family there.

Yang Ik-jun (left) and Ando Sakura (right) have a quarrel with each other in a still-shot of "Our Homeland," which made its local premiere at the 17th Busan International Film Festival on October 6, 2012. [BIFF]

Though Yang tried to keep herself calm, the Japanese-Korean auteur, who has her brothers in North Korea, could not help but shed her tears as the interview neared its end.

“Surely, I’m still worrying about them every hour, every minute and every second. Every night when I lie in bed, I worry if my brothers are okay," said Yang. Then a moment of silence followed.

"But on the other hand, I find myself with a strong desire to make a great film. I think I am an egoist and a selfish person. That is an inevitable destiny as a director," she continued.

Wiping the tears away from her eyes, Yang showed her strong thirst for making a good movie, which she believes to have achieved in "Our Homeland." Even the risk of her brothers' safety in Pyongyang did not stop her from putting politically sensitive scenes where Song-ho asks Rie to become a spy for the reclusive state.

Her tearful efforts were worth it as "Our Homeland" has been handed the C.I.C.A.E. PRIZE at the 62th Berlin International Film Festival and chosen as the Japanese entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar of the 85th Academy Awards.

Yang's autobiographical fiction opened in Japan in early August and will hit local theaters in February 2013.

Director Yang Yong-hi poses in front of the reporters at a press conference for "Our Homeland," held at Busan's Haeundae Grand Hotel in South Korea, on October 6, 2012. [BIFF]

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