Quotes

[About her fluidity between Korea and the US] I actually have been trying really hard for many years to make film that wasn't an international coproduction. But ironically, all of these "national" films fell through in the end - and in the meantime, I ended up producing other "transnational" films almost as a byproduct! At this point, I've finally accepted the inherent and resilient transnational nature of my films, and the status of my being.

[on Bloodless] What I really ultimately wanted for the viewers (was) to not necessarily experience the horror of being murdered or being sexually assaulted, but just to be there, with her, with genuine sympathy and empathy. I thought that could be possible with [VR].

[on Invisible Light] From the very beginning of the production my goal was to use the diegetic sound as much as possible; I wanted every single sound that you hear in this film to come from the scene itself: no music, no added sound effects. I wanted to emphasize the feeling of diaspora experienced by these two women, and for me trains and airplanes are the sounds that always trigger the idea of diaspora.

[on VR] The unique potential of the VR medium that allows the viewer to "experience," as opposed to "view at a distance in a voyeuristic way," is definitely something I am trying to explore. I've been asked repeatedly the same question, "Is VR an empathy machine?" My answer is yes! But with another question attached to it: "And what can we do with it?" When VR is used for exploitation, especially in depicting violence, it can only create another violence against the viewer (not to mention exploiting the incidents or victims by turning them into cheap entertainment). As is the case with any new medium, the "intention" is the most important thing in utilizing VR. If VR is an empathy machine, toward what end do we want to create empathy? To me, the VR medium must help us better understand the pain (and sometimes joy) of others, not through sentimental identification, but by being there as a witness.