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Ajyal Film Festival 2021

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Fighter

Ajyal Competition, Ajyal at Vox - Ajyal Film Festival 2021

Jéro Yun / Feature Narrative / South Korea / 2020 / 103 min / Colour / DCP / In Korean / Arabic, English subtitles / MENA Premiere
Rated: Parental guidance is advised for viewers under the age of 13. Individuals under the age of 13 are not admitted into cinemas unless accompanied by an individual aged 18 or older.

Synopsis

After a courageous escape from North Korea, Jina spends some time in a social inclusion facility in the south before moving to a small studio in Seoul. Free from the regime that controlled every aspect of her life, she takes the first tentative steps towards independence by taking a job as a cleaner. Money she desperately needs in order to rescue her father, who is still trapped in the north. While working at a local gym, she notices female boxers as they train. Awakening a fighting spirit inside her, Jina decides to enter the ring and compete. However, as any first-generation immigrant can attest, Jina’s fight is not confined to the ring.
At every corner, she faces challenges from isolation and discrimination to trouble gaining employment, potential exploitation, and the persistent culture shock of living in a modern capitalist economy. Burdened by a sense of abandonment and displacement born of her mother’s desertion when she was only twelve, Jina finds herself battling internally as well as externally. Seong-mi Lim, who portrays Jina, gives an award-winning performance in this confronting drama about a refugee’s fight for freedom where few seem to be in her corner.

About the Director

Born in Busan, South Korea, Jéro Yun studied art, photography and film at the ENSAD in Nancy and Le Fresnoy in Paris. His short documentary ‘Promise' (2011) won the Grand Prize at the Asiana International Short Film Festival, and his omnibus short ‘The Pig’ (2103) screened at Cannes and Busan. His feature documentary ‘Mrs. B. A North Korean Woman’ (2016) won the best documentary award at Moscow Film Festival and Zurich Film Festival. In 2018, his debut feature film ‘Beautiful Days’ opened the Busan International Film Festival.

Credits

Director
Jéro Yun
Screenwriter
Jéro Yun
Producer
Kim Min-kyoung
Editor
Jéro Yun
Production Designer
Han Ju Ye-seul
Executive Producer
Mo Sung-jin
Cinematographer
Lim Chang-wook
Sales Company
M-Line Distribution
Production Company
Haegrimm Pictures
Sound
Kim Dong-han
Mixing
Seo Kyeong-won
Distributor
M-Line Distribution
Cast
Lim Seong-mi, Baek Seo-bin, Oh Kwang-rok

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