“Activism and Post-activism: Korean Documentary Cinema, 1981-2022” by Jihoon Kim

Publisher Oxford University Press hails Activism and Post-activism as the first-ever English language work on the birth and development of South Korean nonfiction film. Drawing on more than 200 films and videos, Jihoon Kim’s trailblazing book charts the history of documentary filmmaking in the South from its early “activism” period in the 1980s to what the author calls its modern “post-activism” period in the late ’90s and 2000s. In doing so, Kim highlights the work of marginalized groups—including women, sexual minorities, and the working class—who, without the ease of access modern technology brings to documentary film, would have little platform to speak.

Split into the aforementioned ‘activism’ and ‘post-activism’ periods, Kim’s study analyzes documentary film in various sub-categories and sub-periods, but what runs through the work as a whole is the socially benign thrust of protest that aimed to deal with important, contentious issues while circumventing the means of state-controlled video production. In Kim’s view, these protest films had a hand in reinforcing democracy, equity and progressiveness, ultimately breaking down the idea of an homogeneous culture in favor of a view of a multitude of national cultures.

 

Activism and Post-activism: Korean Documentary Cinema, 1981-2022, Jihoon Kim (Oxford University Press, February 2024)
Activism and Post-activism: Korean Documentary Cinema, 1981-2022, Jihoon Kim (Oxford University Press, February 2024)

More specifically, the first “activism” section of Kim’s book examines documentary film on issues such as the struggles of democratic groups, such as in in the case of the May 18 Gwangju Democratic Uprising; labor unions; state-sponsored violence and history revisionism of the Cold and Korean wars; diplomatic conflict and public anger with Japan on the issue of comfort women; as well as emerging movement groups for the environment, animals and social issues such as feminist and LGBT trends.

The second half of the book deals with “post-activism” documentary film, which Kim deems to have broken with the objective, facts-based roots of early documentary protest film and aligned itself with modern aesthetics. While not entirely ignoring the social causes that had been a major part in the birth of activism film, the post-activism “turn” focused more on the role and agency of the filmmaker themselves, producing very personalized accounts while at the same time reducing the importance of hyŏnjang (or “on-the-spot”) reportage. Tracking this new movement until as recently as 2022, Kim sees post-activism as a non-vérité, post-truth movement that focuses on personal accounts of history.

 Juggling so many works in one study is a dizzying feat.

Moving from veteran filmmakers, such as Kim Dong-won, Hong Hyung-sook, and Byun Young-joo, to new and emerging voices, Activism and Post Activism gives an in-depth account of South Korean documentary protest film from its origins to its modern day iterations. Ultimately, the author sees the ostensible duality of activism and post-activism to be a double helix that gives a whole picture of South Korea’s documentary and its navigation of political and aesthetic fields.

Kim is a professor of cinema and media studies at Seoul’s Chung-ang University, with a number of published books on documentary, cinema and digital media in general. Their experience in the field is brought to bear here, and what is most impressive about Activism and Post-activism is its breadth, making it essential reading for anyone wanting to undertake research in this field. Juggling so many works in one study is a dizzying feat, but through this diversity the author stays true to the liberating force of documentary film: providing access to so many accounts of history unlocks a pathway to a view of history that is less hegemonic and open to all. While documentary film’s claim to objective truth has been for a long time dispelled, the quantitative approach of both this study and activism film allows for what Kim calls a “social multiplicity”; in other words, multifarious senses of national belonging that undercut a homogeneous sense of state.


Christopher Corker is a PhD candidate at York University and a published translator of Japanese literature.