ISLAND OF STONE, 2011
3-channel video installation and film, HD 16:9, Color, 15:45 min. Jane Jin Kaisen & Guston Sondin-Kung
Island of Stone was filmed in the spring of 2011 and documents the resistance against the construction of a Naval Base in Gangjeong village, Jeju Island. The main video in the installation portrays South Korean film critic Yang Yun Mo. A few days after the recording on April 6, 2011, Yang was forcibly arrested for objecting to the naval base construction and went into a 71-day hunger strike while in prison. Island of Stone was posted online shortly after Yang’s arrest. The film went viral on social media networks and during that spring, the Jeju Naval Base resistance changed from being mainly a local issue to becoming an international protest movement. Island of Stone was screened as the closing film at the Seoul Human Rights Film Festival. The Jeju Naval base with the official name the Jeju Civilian-Military Complex Port, opened on February 26, 2016. In November 2017, an American nuclear-powered submarine docked at the base.
Directed, conceptualized, filmed, and edited: Jane Jin Kaisen & Guston Sondin-Kung. Archive footage of the arrest of Yang Yoon Mo: Kim Min Su. Cast: Yang Yun Mo.Translation: Se Young Oh, Park Jung Joo, Kim Min Jung