Film Director Debut by Moon Geun-young: "I'm Scared and Nervous"

Three Directed Works Unveiled at Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival
"If You Are Fully Alive, Neither Light Nor Darkness Matters Much"

"This is not something I started with a firm and resolute will. I am scared and afraid." These are the words of actress Moon Geun-young, who debuted as a film director. The three short films she directed?Simyeon, Hyeonjae Jinhaenghyeong, and Kkume Wajwo?were first revealed on the afternoon of the 10th at a movie theater in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, during the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival. The shorts run between 9 and 15 minutes. All of them express the characters' emotions through the actors' facial expressions and gestures, music, and lighting, without any dialogue.

Moon Geun-young said, "I started because I wanted to act, but the project grew enormously." She added, "Singers write lyrics and compose music, dancers create their own dances, so I wondered why actors can't express their own stories. I wanted to break free from the fate and limitations of being an actor and express and convey my emotions, so I challenged myself to direct. Just being able to see this on a big screen in a theater is overwhelming and I am grateful."

Simyeon, which Moon Geun-young both directed and starred in, mainly features underwater scenes. It shows a woman who cannot escape from underwater no matter how much she swims. Hyeonjae Jinhaenghyeong focuses on an actor who wants to leave the stage but inevitably has to return to it. Kkume Wajwo depicts the emotions between lovers through a performance close to contemporary dance. Moon explained, "Since the first work was filmed only underwater, naturally there was no dialogue, and the other works also ended up without dialogue. I focused on conveying emotions through expressions and movements." She continued, "I had a strong thirst to tell my story. It contains the worries and thoughts that people around my age might have. I thought of an ending that comforts us all to think hard and live well together."

The three works intertwine confusion, frustration, loss, and longing. Moon Geun-young said, "In dark, suffocating situations where you want to escape, light is expressed as something like hope," but also added, "I wanted to deliver the message that if I am fully alive, light and darkness may not actually matter that much." Regarding the difficulties she felt while directing, she said, "Unlike acting, I had to make quick decisions alone," and "I felt that being a director is truly a lonely job, but it was also freeing." She said, "It was thrilling when the actors performed as I wanted and when the angles I desired appeared. It was really enjoyable that every stage went through my hands."

She is not stopping her acting career. Last year, she portrayed a woman learning how to part with intense emotions in the KBS Drama Special 2021 Gieok-ui Haegak. Moon Geun-young said, "Directing is just a part of my acting activities, and I plan to continue both steadily." She added, "There were many times acting was difficult, and I thought I might quit someday, but directing has relieved many of my frustrations and made acting more enjoyable. I want to be an actor who acts for a long time."