INFO
| Name | Moving |
| Year | 2011 |
| Director(s) | Park Ki-yong |
| Producer(s) | Michael Stephens, Park Kiyong |
| Composer(s) | Jessica Tsai |
| Artform | Screen |
ABOUT
Produced while he was a visiting fellow at the University of Auckland, Korean filmmaker Park Ki-yong directed Moving as a response to the 2011 Christchurch earthquake and its impact on Korean immigrants living in the Canterbury region. Filmed over one week in April, only two months after the major earthquake on 22 February, the documentary was completed in time for selection at the New Zealand International Film Festival, premiering in July of the same year.
Moving consists almost entirely of a single interview with Jung Jin-suk and Lee Kyung-mi, a Korean couple who immigrated to Christchurch with their two sons in 2001. Jung and Lee speak candidly of their experience relocating to Christchurch and their struggle to find jobs and make ends meet. Over the next ten years, they were able to raise enough money to buy a small restaurant, establish themselves within the local business community and purchase a second, larger restaurant. They were close to opening a third when the earthquake struck. Both restaurants, located on Colombo Street in the central city, were confined to the severely damaged red zone.
Park chose to focus on Jung and Lee after meeting other Koreans in the area. He was drawn to their candour, as he explained in an article for The Lumière Reader in 2011: “What attracted me to this couple was not only that they experienced this very difficult time as immigrants in Christchurch, but also, I think I should say, their ability for storytelling...They were very open-minded, and didn’t hesitate to tell me anything.” The confessional nature of this interview contradicts the stereotypical perception of immigrant communities as closed and insular, offering an affecting insight into the common hardships faced by immigrants, their resolve to make a better life in a new country and the shared devastation of those impacted by the earthquake.
At the time of Moving’s film festival screenings, Jung and Lee were awaiting an insurance assessment, which they hoped would cover some of their losses. “We have had enough of the earthquake and we just want to move somewhere...anywhere in New Zealand except Christchurch,” they said in a NZ Herald interview. It is not known where the family is currently based.
Park returned to South Korea after completing his fellowship at the University of Auckland. An established film director, producer, academic and industry leader, Park was executive director of the Korean Academy of Film Arts prior to coming to Aotearoa. In 2022 he was appointed chairperson of the Korean Film Council (KOFIC), with the role of guiding policy to promote and support the Korean film industry at home and abroad.
LINKS
Key works / presentations
2011 — New Zealand International Film Festival
