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JEONJU Lab

The Return of Forgotten Words

JUNG Sueun
Korea 80min 4K Color/B&W Documentary
GenreDocumentary
LanguageKorean, Japanese, English
Project StatusScenario Development
JEONJU Project GoalMentoring/Feedback, Fundraising, Networking
Total Budget276,900,000 KRW
Secured Budget
  • 10,000,000 KRW
LOGLINE

Three individuals—Cho Moon-sang, Noh Su-bok, and Heo Yeong—whose voices unveil long-hidden war histories.

SYNOPSIS

Kanchanaburi, Thailand, was a key site during World War II where the Japanese military operated POW camps and military brothels. Cho Moon-sang served as a prison guard, while Noh Su-bok endured suffering as a "comfort woman." Heo Yeong, a propaganda officer for the Japanese army, produced films that distorted the realities of POW camps. After the war ended in 1945, Cho was sentenced to death as a war criminal. Unable to return to Korea due to his collaboration, Heo aided Korean prison guards in their escape. Noh, rather than returning home, chose to remain in Thailand and rebuild her life.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

The documentary sheds light on voices suppressed and distorted by war. It follows Cho Moon-sang, executed as a war criminal; Noh Su-bok, who lived in silence after being forcibly mobilized as one of the Japanese military’s "comfort women"; and Heo Yeong, a Korean filmmaker who produced propaganda films for the Japanese military. The film deconstructs and reinterprets the visual frame of Heo's camera—once a tool of imperialist propaganda—creating space for histories that were never recorded.

DIRECTOR
JUNG Sueun
The director studied documentary filmmaking at university and made her feature debut with One Warm Spring Day (2016), a film about her grandfather, a Korean War POW. It was the opening film at the DMZ International Documentary Film Festival. Her second documentary, My Name Is KIM (2022), was invited to the EBS International Documentary Festival’s Asian Competition. She continues to explore war, division, diaspora, and migration, documenting personal and collective histories.
My Name Is KIM (2022), One Warm Spring Day (2016)
PRODUCER
KIM Sungkyung
The producer earned her MA. and Ph.D. in the Sociology of Culture. She has been engaged in various research topics, including the transnational mobility of North Korean migrants, social changes in North Korean society, and the Post/Division System. In recent years, she has focus on the intersection of research and visual storytelling, exploring documentaries as a medium for historical narratives.
CONTACTJUNG Sueun│woojoopictures@gmail.com
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