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15th DMZ Docs(2023)

I AM DOCU



Nam June Paik: The Moon Is the Oldest TV

Amanda KIM

  • USA, Korea
  • 2023
  • 107min
  • 12 +
  • DCP
  • color

Korean Premiere

Synopsis

This documentary delves into Mara, Jeju, and Chagwi Island, showing encounters with people and objects. It intricately depicts the journey of transplanting deceased tree roots from Mara Island to the Jeju Museum of Contemporary Art. Throughout the film, it encourages contemplation on themes such as the intimidating allure of the ocean, the lure of solitude, and the reverberations of isolation. These roots, washed ashore by a typhoon, resided on Mara Island for nine years before finding their place in the museum. The film deftly captures the passage of time, the change of place, and the moments of isolation. 

Review

 Nam June Paik: The Moon is the Oldest TV is an art documentary that helps audiences get a better understanding of the extraordinary media revolutionary, Paik Nam-jun. The documentary depicts how Paik trained as a pianist in Europe in the 1950s, went through an artistic turning point after meeting an avant-garde composer named John Cage, grew his aspiration for democratic art against tradition, and became an avant-garde artist himself. Just like the works of Paik, this documentary features diverse portraits of a talented and witty figure who had the ability to embody insight and theme as well as insights to predict the future. Paik dragging violin strings around his body seems like an incarnation of an iconoclast who transcends rules. This film is full of efforts to reflect Paik¡¯s purity and mysterious genius. Nam June Paik: The Moon is the Oldest TV is the first feature documentary by Amanda Kim. She helps the audience assume the thoughts on the modern technologies of Paik who died in 2006, and she also leads the film with a bright and humorous tone that Paik would have enjoyed. The story of a gifted talent who finds beauty inside surrounding objects is narrated in the voice of an actor, Steven Yeun.                

Director

  • Amanda KIM

    Amanda Kim is a Korean American director and producer. A former creative director at Vice Media, she led US video direction for i-D, Creators, and Garage Magazine. Kim also worked on Viceland, Vice's TV channel, as a creative producer in an experimental incubator where she directed a nimble production crew to test out pilots and innovative content formats.

Credit