-2024 Locarno film festival PARDI DI DOMANI short film competition special jury mention

-2024 Fantastic Film Festival short film competition

너무 배가 고팠다…

I was overcome by hunger…

시놉시스

배가 너무 고픈 누나는 쌀 몇 톨과 동생을 바꾼다. 쌀로 배를 채우니 이성이 돌아오지만 이미 늦은 걸 어쩌겠는가?

Logline

Overcome with hunger, a girl trades her brother for a bag of rice. Hunger quenched, she comes to her senses. But it is too late.

Synopsis

A starving peasant girl trades her younger brother for a sack of rice. When her hunger is satisfied, a strong feeling of guilt takes hold of her and she travels back to the house where she had abandoned him. But it is too late, her brother has disappeared and strange footsteps lead her into the forest.

Mixing Korean legends with horror fiction, THE MASKED MONSTER is a journey through Korea’s poverty-stricken past, led by an unexpected character: a crow.

Director’s Statement

 The twisted outcomes of hunger, the guilt of having a full belly, a destiny spurred on by an unintended sense of revenge…

As I wandered, one day, in the forest near my home, I got lost and famished. The sun began to set, making the mountains cast an eerie shadow over the land. The crows on my path were shrieking. I came across a grave, with nothing but a sign on it that said, “If you own this grave, please contact me. I must relocate it for construction.” The sign was dated more than 30 years ago, the construction must have never happened.

I wondered how it must have felt to wait for so long, unable to move the grave. How it must feel to be neglected for over three decades, with no-one paying respect to your memory besides shrieking crows. How does it feel to be lost, abandoned with nobody to turn to? And what must have happened to be subjected to such a harrowing end to one's life.

박세영 syeyoung park / Producer, Screenwriter, Director, Cinematographer, Color-grade

Coproduction Office / Worldwide sales & Distribution

Cast

Yeji Yeon / the sister

Im Juseong / the brother

Jiwan Yu, Yeji Yeon / the monster

Gilryeong Heo / the dead man