KOREAN DIRECTOR YOUNG MAN KANG WRAPS UP EPIC JOURNEY TO HAITI
강영만 감독 아이티 거리의 아이들 다큐 영화 기사
 아이티 거리의 아이들 다큐영화 |
FILM, POP CULTURE AND A SLICE OF LIFE IN KOREA
KOREAN DIRECTOR WRAPS UP EPIC JOURNEY TO HAITI
When Director KANG Young-man was filming his documentary Innocence Abandoned, about the plight of street kids in Haiti, things were bad enough. The country was awash with many young men, who were abandoned, orphaned, begging and even boys as young as 5 selling drugs. In such a violent, harsh society many themselves had turned to violence and some were even sold as slaves. As happens in documentary making, narrative direction can change and in this case to a much darker place. The documentary makers uncovered the motives of some of those would-be-angels who on the outside were there to apparently help the children. Darker truths and corruption emerged in the mix that set the documentary on a new path.
However, the 2010, January 12 earthquake proved to be the real game changer pulling the filmmakers from their post production work and back to Haiti to tell an even more dramatic story. What originally was supposed to be a short documentary became an epic journey, 12years in the making. As Director KANG explains, the crew developed a connection with the kids that has lasted until today. The documentary, released in January of this year, has since gone onto receive the Monaco Charity Film Festival 2013 Human Interest Award.
The director himself is nothing short of prolific. Moving to the U.S from Korea, KANG Young-man became a commercial director shooting over 50 works as well as short films and several features includingThe Last Eve (2005) which won The Best Action Feature Film award at the 2005 New York International Independent film and
Video Festival. In addition to working in Korea, Singapore and Japan he also directed the animated series Kimchi Warrior(2011).
Innocence Abandoned: Street Kids of Haiti is a Leapfrog Productions project and was produced by Dennis James Lee and Tomiko Ok Lee. The film will open in limited theatres this year in Korea, China and the U.S.
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