Night Walk
- KOREA / 2023 / Silent / Color / DCP / 65 min
Director, Photography, Editing, Producer: Sohn Koo-yong
Production Company, World Sales: SKY Film
The murmuring of the stream heightens poetic sentiment, inspiring a nighttime walk. The blue light of the moon faintly illuminates the sloping path, where there is not another soul in sight. It seems as if time has stopped. And yet this cold nocturnal scene is but a mirror of the heat and changing of the seasons on display during the day, as if the sound of grass and leaves blowing in the wind, and the chirping of bugs and frogs, may only be heard when house lights begin to go dark. The quietly writhing landscape is overlaid with mischievous graffiti-like drawings and old Joseon Dynasty poems written in a whispered fashion—their silent conversation in the dark brings a desolation certain to make your heart pound. (IT)
[Director’s Statement] In my neighborhood, the mountain is snug and the stream murmurs, every night lulling the vibrance of day into serenity. One night, crouching on a cold rock in the midst of the dark blue brook I saw the sky in the water. The indigo gleam of the flowing moon dyed my senses and I became one with the sky and the water and the crisp air in between. Since then, taking a walk by the stream is like strolling in someone else’s dream. The soft breeze from the mountain sways my hair gently, and I wait for my sleep to be broken.
Sohn Koo-yongBorn in Seoul, 1988, Sohn Koo-yong studied media and communications at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and filmmaking at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. This is his second feature and fourth film. It premiered at International Film Festival Rotterdam and was awarded the Documentary Award at Jeonju International Film Festival. His previous films A Walk (2017), Winter in Seoul (2018, YIDFF 2019), and Afternoon Landscape (2020, YIDFF 2021) have screened at various festivals including Visions du Réel.