Business Doc Europe talks to a very busy Steven Dhoedt, who is presenting two projects at RE>CONNEXT, The Sound of Seoul which examines the unique musical culture of post-War Korea, and Sunrise Kids, about the “historical tension between rebellion and conformity within post-war Japanese society.”
There is more to the Korean music scene than ‘Gangnam Style’ and superstar boy band BTS. Belgian writer/director/producer Steven Dhoedt will cover nearly six decades of Korean music in his new documentary series The Sound of Seoul.
The project, which will be pitched at Flanders Image’s Re>Connext platform, is now in production for Visualantics Productions, Dhoedt’s own Brussels-based production house. Kim Min-Chul of Korea’s Minch & Films co-produces.
Past films of Dhoedt have also explored South Korean culture, such as Inside the Metaverse, State of Play and Reach for The Sky. He explains how the music in the series is “music that I gradually discovered during the decade or so that I have been visiting and working in Korea… Over the years, Korean friends, colleagues, even café and shop owners made me listen to songs from the 60s, 70s and 80s.”
He started developing the idea for the series in 2016, wanting to learn more about the music industry in Korea before K-Pop became a global phenomenon. “Long before K-Pop appeared on the global music stage, South-Korea already had a flourishing music industry that included many genres and styles – from Korean trot to psychedelic rock, folk, disco and punk.”
The series is about more than just the music. He explains that Korea’s “musical pioneers faced harsh censorship throughout three decades of military dictatorship. While an oppressive regime restricted the careers of many artists, their music survived and contributed greatly to the popularity of Korean music today.”
Dhoedt adds how, “the arts, and in this particular case pop music, proved to be an important mirror for the country’s recent history, which has been marked by three decades of dictatorship, repression and censorship… I consider The Sound of Seoul primarily an ode to the resilience of the Korean people.”
He sees the film as “a unique opportunity to document the legacy of Korean rock, folk and pop pioneers and to introduce their incredible music to a new generation.” The series also delves deeper into the hitmakers of K-Pop today.
A series aiming to explore all those decades has been a huge research undertaking and, he says, “perhaps one of the biggest challenges was finding the right archive footage. There’s little footage available of musicians from the late ‘50s until the mid ‘70s. Unlike in the US and Europe, film cameras were not widespread in Korea. People were struggling and there was no money or time to document musical performances. Also, because of censorship (and carelessness), a lot of footage from broadcasters was destroyed or lost. It was definitely a big worry, but I can safely say that while our search continues, by now we have already found a real treasure trove of rare archive material.”
The first leg of the production is done, with more than 40 interviews shot, and a rough cut of the first two episodes of a planned 6 to 8 episodes. “Right now, we’re looking for additional financing partners to come on board so we can continue shooting: additional interviews, especially with the younger generation of artists. Then there’s need for further archive research and obviously a lot more editing,” Dhoedt says of the current status. They hope to broadcast the series in autumn 2023.
The busy Dhoedt, who lived in Hong Kong for several years, is also now working on another feature documentary, Sunrise Kids, which is also being pitched at Re>Connext. That story is about Japanese delinquency through the ages. As a producer he is also working on the animated Dwaler and the video game The Secret of Tan. Visualantics, which he runs alongside Brecht Debackere and Gert Van Berckelaer, is also presenting a third title at ReConnext, Nostalgia for the Future.
Of Sunrise Kids, Dhoedt explains that it explores “a historical tension between rebellion and conformity within post-war Japanese society. What is considered delinquency in Japan is not necessarily seen that way in the West. For instance, in the ‘60s, Japanese teenagers who dressed fashionably, in suit and tie, were considered troublemakers and were at times arrested.” He explains that its structure is “a hybrid form of documentary and animation styles.”
Dhoedt has been researching and developing this idea since 2016, with shooting having to be put on hold during the pandemic, and has plans to return to Japan in the spring of 2022 to go fully into production once Japanese borders are reopened.
The Flanders Audiovisual Fund has backed Sunrise Kids with development and production funding, and VRT/CANVAS is on board as co-producer, plus private investment is committed through the Belgian Tax Shelter. The team hope to collaborate with another European co-producer, especially one with animation experience.
