Bikini Words at Liverpool Lift-Off Film Festival

BIKINI WORDS was selected for the Liverpool Lift-Off Film Festival 2016. The film screened as part of the shorts program after being chosen from more than 1,300 submissions. Festival screenings offer a different way of seeing a film. They place the work in a shared space and allow it to meet audiences outside its original context.

The Festival Screening

BIKINI WORDS screened on Thursday, 3 March 2016, at Small Cinema Liverpool as part of Shorts Programme 1. Seeing the film in a cinema, far from where it was made, gave the work a new rhythm and distance. That shift mattered. It allowed the language and images to stand on their own.

Language Shaped by Work

The film looks at words that emerged among factory workers in South Korea during the rapid industrial growth of the 1970s and 80s. These terms reflect exhaustion, humor, fear, and adaptation. Rather than explaining that period, I wanted to listen to how people described it themselves.

How the Project Began

I was approached by Hongsung Kim of Design Studio Kerb and Jinbok Wee of Urban Intensity Architects while they were developing a long-term exhibition about Geumcheon District. My task was to contribute a moving-image work that could sit alongside architecture and text without repeating them.

The G-Index as Structure

During research, I came across the G-Index, a collection of 99 words compiled by researcher Haeyeon Yoo. Factory workers in G-Valley used these terms to describe daily life. Together with producer Kuiock Park, I selected eight words. Each one became a scene. The title BIKINI WORDS comes from one of these expressions and points to the idea of stripping things down to their core.

Working with Former Factory Workers

Finding people willing to participate took time. Many were hesitant at first. Trust became central to the process. With help from a workers’ activist who had been active during that period, we were able to connect with people who shared their voices and memories.

Visual Decisions

In some scenes, people are absent. That choice was deliberate. Empty spaces allow viewers to imagine what once took place there. The camera moves slowly and avoids emphasis. I wanted the film to feel open rather than explanatory.

Balancing Form and Story

As a cinematographer, I care about composition and movement. Still, story always comes first. In this film, visuals support language rather than dominate it. The images exist to hold space for words.

Working from Seoul

Living and working in Seoul continues to shape how I see these stories. The city changes quickly, yet traces of earlier decades remain visible if you look closely. That tension between disappearance and memory sits at the center of Bikini Words.

Why the Film Continues to Travel

Bikini Words does not aim to represent a full history. It stays close to fragments. Festival screenings like Liverpool Lift-Off allow those fragments to travel. They meet new audiences and take on new meanings.