RYU Hyungseok
World Premiere
In a room full of warm sunshine, Jeong-seok looks at a white drawing paper. Then, she starts painting a tiger family of four. She has been painting tigers since five years ago when she fought against childhood cancer. She thought the tigers would protect her. Now, she paints a tiger again even though she has completely cured cancer as her family sacrificed so much for her.
What message can we draw from a story about someone overcoming an incurable disease? The Evanescent Relief hopes to answer this question by depicting a protagonist who battles a disease throughout her adolescence and tries to regain her place in family and society. For Jeongseok, who is unable to continue her education even though she is fully recovered, painting becomes her own way of observing her family and surroundings. While she paints her family members as tigers, she reveals her concerns about her role within her family. Not only does she want to help her family but she also hopes to reach out to other patients in the form of social care. Jeongseok makes us realize the fundamental social value of ¡®care¡¯ whereby the members of society rely on one another. Mature beyond her years, her deep consideration adds depth to the story about her recovery, and the film reflects upon the attitude of media that treats patients with incurable diseases as ¡®outsiders¡¯. We're led to wonder about the social perspective that produces outsiders aa well as the meaning of true care. [Suan SEOL]
RYU Hyungseok
The Evanescent Relief (2018)