Film Info
1989 Berlin,
Seoul NOW
A crossover documentary that recreates the past, faces the present, and depicts Korea’s future after reunification through people who have experienced unification!
Germany and Korea, Cross Spaces
Berlin from 1989 to 1990 and Seoul from 2019 to 2021.
시놉시스
November 9, 1989.
Andreas, Sonya, and Mark, who witnessed the scene as young men at the time, became middle-aged after 30 years. They have to live face to face with unification that suddenly came without time to adjust. Since then, he has left Germany and is currently living in Korea as a pianist, a researcher at Samsung Electronics, and a film production manager.
As South Korea and Germany experienced reunification in Korea with the opening of the Panmunjom Declaration and the inter-Korean Joint Liaison Office in 2018, they hope to see reunification once again.
The film production manager, Mark, finds 24 pen pal letters he has long kept hidden while cleaning his old luggage. Mark, a high school student from East Germany, met Brita, a girl from West Germany, and exchanged pen pal letters between West Germany and East Germany for two years. Mark first went to the city of Kassel in West Germany to meet Brita after the Wall collapsed. But to meet Brita, who was completely out of touch after reunification, Mark begins his journey to find her.
Andreas, a pianist and piano professor, asks Korean students about their thoughts on unification whenever they have a piano lesson. But the students are just sour. Meanwhile, an event marking the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall will be held in Berlin, and Andreas decides to participate with his daughter in person because he wants to tell her what happened 30 years ago.
Sonya, who has been living in Korea for 16 years as a researcher at Samsung Electronics, is still adjusting to Korean society. Sonia, born to a Korean mother and a German father, is concerned about her identity between the two different cultures and plays a role in spreading Korean culture and history to foreigners who come to Korea. The reconciliation mood for unification in Korea is reminiscent of Germany in 1989 and tries to inform people of the confusion they felt as teenagers.
Mark, Andreas, Sonja, each with a different problem. They live in the present of Korea, visit Germany and meet Germany, family, and old friends 30 years later. Beyond the gap between space and space, I feel that the reality of East and West Germany at that time is subtly touching the two Koreas today. What impact did unification have on their “life”? They, who may encounter the second reunification of their lives in Korea, talk about “the bare face of unification that they didn’t know at the time, but can now talk about.”
Director’s Note
“The reunification of Germany is still underway.”
German directors who met at the film festival said unification has yet to be completed. It’s been 30 years since we unified, and there’s still confusion. This was a shock to us, who lived in a divided country and thought it would be over if we declared the “end of war” and “unification.”
In 1990, German reunification took place 329 days after the fall of the Berlin Wall. At that time, no one knew, in a short time, that it would be integrated. And this moment may come unexpectedly to South Korea. “1989 Berlin, Seoul Now,” tells the result of reunification that German youths, then in their late teens, recalled in middle age in 1989, and today’s whirlpool surrounding South Korea, North Korea, and the United States. This will be a future prediction scenario for today’s young people, who can become the first generation of reunification, to portray life after reunification.
<1989 Berlin, Seoul Now> begins with the story of the main characters who accidentally face the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989.
They brushed their teeth in the bathroom, watched the scene on TV while practicing for the concert, and headed to the Berlin Wall with their parents. Their stories are vividly revealed by intersecting the space filming, archive, and sound work that they stayed in at the moment. It also intersects Germany, which changed after reunification, with young people who had to live in Germany.
Director’s Note
“The reunification of Germany is still underway.”
German directors who met at the film festival said unification has yet to be completed. It’s been 30 years since we unified, and there’s still confusion. This was a shock to us, who lived in a divided country and thought it would be over if we declared the “end of war” and “unification.”
In 1990, German reunification took place 329 days after the fall of the Berlin Wall. At that time, no one knew, in a short time, that it would be integrated. And this moment may come unexpectedly to South Korea. “1989 Berlin, Seoul Now” tells the result of reunification that German youths, then in their late teens, recalled in middle age in 1989, and today’s whirlpool surrounding South Korea, North Korea, and the United States. This will be a future prediction scenario for today’s young people, who can become the first generation of reunification, to portray life after reunification.
<1989 Berlin, Seoul Now> begins with the story of the main characters who accidentally face the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989.
They brushed their teeth in the bathroom, watched the scene on TV while practicing for the concert, and headed to the Berlin Wall with their parents. Their stories are vividly revealed by intersecting the space filming, archive, and sound work they stayed in at the moment. It also intersects Germany, which changed after reunification, with young people who had to live in Germany.
작품 정보
Production: Vodamedia Group
Director: Choi Woo-young
Producer: Sinae Ha
Filming format: 4K
Screening format: UHD / DCP
Genre: Documentary (Persons, History, Society)
Starring: Mark Sigmund, Andreas Erett, Sonya Glaeser.
Support for production: DMZ Documentary Film Festival,
Korea Broadcasting and Telecommunication Agency
PR Partner: Feel & Plan
With the Support of
Trailer
