A Tale of Old Cities

A documentary about the U.N. forces in Korea and the amphibious invasion of Inchon.

In the 1980s, Kim Hyunsook was an integral part of a collective of young women activists who focused their efforts on fighting urban poverty in some of Incheon's most disadvantaged neighborhoods. These women not only lived in these communities but also worked alongside the urban underprivileged. She introduced me to some of her former colleagues from that era. Thus, I began this film journey by visiting Ahn Soonae, a close confidante and associate of Kim's, whom Kim affectionately described as ‘a foul-mouthed woman with a huge ass.’ Soon after, I had the privilege of meeting other members of the collective, now elderly women in their 60s.

At 4:30 AM, Mom is preparing for a huge meal all by herself. In charge of the eatery at the construction site of the Incheon Airport Terminal 2, Mom easily makes a meal for hundreds of construction workers, but her labor is not easy to watch for her filmmaker son.

In the 1990s, Incheon experienced a period of economic, cultural, and educational growth centered on the area known as Dongincheon. This area became a hub for heavy metal and rock bands, music listening rooms, and concert halls. Over time, these facilities moved to the basements of Gwangyo-dong, where numerous Korean heavy metal and rock bands gathered and flourished.

A young student lives in a mini-apartment in Incheon, in the North-West of South Korea. Wandering around the neighbourhood, she immerses herself in her family’s past, piecing together forgotten fragments of history. Using drawings and clay animation, visual artist Vatae Kimlee creates a flowing visual collage, a captivating animated graphic novel that brings back to life memories erased by the country’s accelerated transformation.

Gwang-ho, a prospect on his high school baseball team, is not drafted by a professional baseball team. His desire to continue playing baseball strains his relationship with his team members. Gwang-ho eventually begins selling fake gasoline with his friend Min-cheol.

When one girl from five close school friends moves to Seoul after school is over, the other four try and deal with the loss of her moving and them drifting apart.

On 31 January 1968, 31 North Korean commandos infiltrated South Korea in a failed mission to assassinate President Park Chung-hee. In revenge, the South Korean military assembled a team of 31 criminals on the island of Silmido to kill Kim Il-sung for a suicide mission to redeem their honor, but was cancelled, leaving them frustrated. It is loosely based on a military uprising in the 1970s.

After losing both her parents, Failan emmigrates to Korea to seek her only remaining relatives. Once she reaches Korea, she finds out that her relatives have moved to Canada well over a year ago. Desperate to stay and make a living in Korea, Failan is forced to have an arranged marriage through a match-making agency.

A chubby high school student participatee in a sports competition to win a cash prize for sex change surgery.

Abengo Corps is under the direct control of headquarters of Gen. Douglas MacArthur. In order to conceal the Inchon Landing Operation, Abengo is assigned to the Wonsan Landing Operation as a decoy mission. With the operation soon at hand, the members of this operation go on a special vacation to Busan. Among them is Il-gyu. He meets with Bae Su-na, a refugee, and they spend a passionate, touching night of love together. The members perform their duties as ordered. Lieutenant Colonel Koh receives a coded message from the headquarters. Koh realizes that his men are a diversion for the Inchon Landing Operation. Lieutenant Koh is angered and resentful. And Lieutenant Sung is chosen to enter the battle instead of Lieutenant Colonel Koh. During the January 4 Retreat, Lieutenant Sung meets Su-na, who has had Il-gyu's son. Lieutenant Sung helps her out.

32-year-old Siheon, a delivery worker at Eurwangni Beach, is soon to be a college student. One day, as he is congratulated by the aunties at the restaurant, a Japanese man approaches and informs him his mother is dead. 30-year-old Ryota is the son of Siheon’s mother who left young Siheon and have a new family of her own in Japan. The brothers who met for the first time and Siheon’s friend Yejin head to Siheon’s old house in Chinatown where his mother’s trinkets are buried.

Kidong is an exploration crew member of ASA (not NASA), aka Asia Space Administration. He leaves ASA to raise his daughter, Kyujin, after his wife and colleague, Sunho, dies during childbirth. One day, he has a mysterious experience meeting Sunho from a different dimension and decides to go back to space to search for her. He boards the secret spacecraft, Super Nova, based on the blueprints left behind by Sunho.

Two lone female fighters who have learned to rely on no one but themselves venture into Seoul's underworld. In search of the big hit that could mean liberation from their useless husbands, these disparate women grow closer.

Il-young tries to get away from her adoptive mother because she does not want to get involved in her mother's criminal activities.

Gen. Douglas MacArthur leads a Korean War campaign, and the war tests a married couple's relationship.