“I Wanted to Hold Onto Hope”: Film ‘Namtaeryeong’ Makes Its Debut at Jeonju International Film Festival

“I didn’t want to divide people, but rather felt a desire to ‘feed them.’ I wanted to hold onto the hope I discovered at Namtaeryeong that day.”

Director Kim Hyun-ji, known for the documentary ‘Adult Kim Jang-ha’, explained the inspiration behind her new work ‘Namtaeryeong’ during a press conference at the Jeonju Digital Independent Cinema on the 8th.

The film depicts the “Namtaeryeong Battle,” which took place on December 21, 2024. Following the December 3 martial law, farmers from the Jeon Bong-jun Struggle Group who traveled to Seoul by tractor and women in their 20s and 30s were blocked by police at Namtaeryeong, the southern gateway to Seoul.

Director Kim, who is also a PD at Gyeongnam MBC, stated, “Since Jinju in Gyeongnam was the starting point for the Jeon Bong-jun Struggle Group, I covered it from the beginning of the march.” She added that the subject matter wasn’t difficult to handle just because it was for a regional broadcaster.

The movie begins with the phrase, “This is a record of a square opened by chance on the night of the winter solstice. It is a testimony to the things that one night’s square changed, and a story of the struggle of people trying to bring Namtaeryeong into their daily lives.”

It meticulously weaves together SNS records that broadcast the scene in real-time when tractors from across the country were blocked at 12 PM on the 21st, along with statements made on the cold ground over 28 hours.

Jeon Ju-hwan, the secretary general of the Jinju Farmers’ Association and a participant in the film, recalled, “I’ve attended many rallies for farmers’ survival rights, but that day was a bit special.” He added, “I thought we would be arrested and that there wouldn’t even be any media reports because our entry into Seoul was blocked.”

He further noted, “However, because people gathered and stayed up all night together, we were able to head toward Seoul the next day. It would have been absolutely impossible with the strength of the farmers alone.”

The latter part of the film introduces “connections” that transcend generations and values at Namtaeryeong.

In one episode, an elder tells a woman, “Good job, daughters,” and when she explains that she is “non-binary” (an identity that does not fit into the gender binary), the elder simply and coolly responds, “I see, I’ll keep that in mind.”

Hwang Seung-yu, a participant and operator of the X (formerly Twitter) account ‘Gyeongsang-do Hornet Uncle’, said, “The people I met in this square were curious about who each other were and accepted them as they are. We asked how each other were doing and took care of one another in the cold all night. If it’s a square like this, I would be willing to fight for it.”

Director Kim shared her hope, saying, “I hoped that Namtaeryeong wouldn’t just remain a beautiful memory, but would become an attitude we should have. I hope people can say, ‘Let’s do it the Namtaeryeong way.'”

The 27th Jeonju International Film Festival, which opened on the 29th of last month, concludes its ten-day journey today with the closing ceremony and the screening of the closing film ‘Namtaeryeong’ at 6:30 PM at the Samsung Cultural Center of Jeonbuk National University.

This year’s festival saw a seat occupancy rate of 82.1% as of the previous day, with 442 out of 610 total screenings sold out.

Additionally, it was reported that a total of 4,175 people watched movies through the ‘Alley Screenings’ held throughout Jeonju.