Resident Forever

The border is my spiritual scene. A native of South Korea, from a father himself born in North Korea, I live in Paris. As for my father, he lost his native place, and for 64 years he has remained attached to this place which he cannot visit any more. That kind of attachment to a site of memories seems to me rather mysterious. This is why, in my heart, I am in search of the token of identity attached to a place (of birth, of living), and particularly, to a place at a border. After my first documentary, Dream House By the Border (2013), on the inhabitants of the zone between South and North Korea, I am now preparing the second part of my project : Resident Forever, a film on the inhabitants of the numerous border zones of Armenia – a country that is neither in peace, nor at war. Coming myself from a divided country, Korea, which also is neither at war nor really in peace, I take this paradox as the emblem of my documentary style. This paradox will be evidenced in the film through the accounts of people living at the borders, and through these singular landscapes, always revealing a foreign country. From their stories, I shall underline their desire to live there, and their personal experience relating to the country's recent history – especially, the war with Azerbaijan (1991-93). With the exceptionally beautiful landscapes of the borders, the film will show the strength of the commitment of these people to their life at the border, in spite of the dificult situation of their country.