Sewol

A South Korean ferry named Sewol sank on the 16th of April 2014. 304 people died. 250 victims of them were teenagers who were on a class trip. The cruel tragedy: The experts say they could have been saved.

The relatives of the victims fight for a thorough, transparent and independent investigation, which shall clarify the causes of the ferry tragedy, the failed rescue mission of the coast guard and the failed crisis management of Park Geun-Hye’s government. It is such a desperate and tragic fight against the state, in which they even haven’t time and space to mourn.

The documentary film tells about the story of these relatives: About their grief, about their unbending and moving fight for the truth against the corrupted government of Park Geun-Hye, but also about their admirable effort for the improvement in the South Korean society.

The documentary film shows thereby the status quo of the state South Korea, which is a modern western style country, but with a defective democracy. It tells about the South Korean society which is still fighting against the heritage of the decade-long dictatorship and is still looking for the identity of the role of the state.

Ok-Hee Jeongis a Berlin-based German journalist. Her works focus on South Korea. Her articles have been published in important German newspapers like ZEIT Online, taz, FAZ and WOZ (Switzerland), among others. Sewol is her debut film. She is currently working on her second documentary film Werner, Ger and Angelus (working title), about same-sex couples in old age.

Dr. Jin Heon-Jung is an anthropologist working as a senior researcher and lecturer at the Institute of Korean Studies of Free University Berlin, and the Max Planck Institute’s Seoul Lab coordinator. He received his PhD in anthropology from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. His recent publications include a monograph, Migration and Religion in East Asia: North Korean Migrants’ Evangelical Christianity (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), and Building Noah’s Ark for Migrants, Refugees, and Religious Communities (co-edited with Dr. Horstmann, Palgrave Macmillan, 2015).