제 2회 MWFF #2

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Migrant Worker Film Festival highlights both adversity and change (Hankyoreh, 8.31)

Festival organizers hope to share migrant experiences with viewers and build solidarity among migrant communities

Challenging popular ideas and images of migrant workers, the Migrant Worker Film Festival enters its second year with the theme “Super Migrants.” This year’s festival aims to stand as a testament to the struggles faced by migrant workers the world over, while also offering a glimpse at their achievements.

Working as a migrant is synonymous with putting one’s life on the line in jobs known to be difficult, dangerous and dirty, the notorious three Ds in the industries that commonly employ migrants. In addition to examining these inherent risks, this year's festival also offers viewers the chance to explore the rich and varied cultures of migrants.

The festival will run from August 31-September 2 in Seoul at Seoul Art Cinema, and aims to give cineastes, activists and the general public an opportunity to feast on 46 films representing 15 different countries.

Though other festivals have covered migrant workers' issues in the past, the festival focuses exclusively on a broad range of special topics. Through documentaries and films of other genres made by and about migrants, the festival looks at labor, human rights, children, women, culture, the Asian Activist Network and films made by migrant workers.

Festival highlights

The opening film, “A Day Without a Mexican,” a serious comedy that takes satirical look at immigration in the United States by imagining a day when the entire state of California is suddenly depleted of its Latin American population. By taking a lighthearted approach, the film dramatically illustrates the crucial role that Latinos, whether migrant worker or citizen, play in California, and by extension, American society.

Another film, “Ghosts,” depicts the story of a Chinese woman whose trip to England to earn money to help her family leads her to become an indentured servant and we see her taking on increasingly dangerous work in order to survive.

Some of the films on the program were featured in last spring’s Women’s Film Festival in Seoul, so those who missed them there can catch them here. One of these, “Ah-Tsao Go!,” follows the joys and sorrows in life of a Vietnamese woman married to a Taiwanese man. It is part of the Migrant Women program, which also features a number of documentaries on women living as brides in foreign countries and others working in modern forms of slavery.

New this year is a section on the Asian Activist Network, featuring two documentaries that depict the political situation in countries from which many migrant workers in Korea have come. One shows the struggle of people in the Kansat region of Bangladesh, after a multinational company turned off the power in 2005, leading to widespread protests that were ignored by the government and resulted in the deaths of 17 people. Another film brings to light the human rights violations committed by the Macapagal-Arroyo regime in the Philippines.

Another new section, Inside Migrant Culture, presents four films from Bangladesh, India and Canada. “The Peace Tree” tells the story of two children, one Muslim and the other Christian, who want to celebrate the holidays of Christmas and Eid with one another, over the objections of their parents. “America, America!” is a four-minute music video that takes a swipe at American involvement in the Middle East and questions the American conception of “freedom.”

There are eight films in the section on Migrant Children. “Nasi” is a short film about a Chinese adoptee who takes her own kind of revenge on her situation and "Baroque 'n Roll" shows what children must overcome in dealing with racism.

Migrant workers in Korea

In Korea, migrant workers have a 20-year history. In spite of this, the almost one million people from over 100 different countries, including China, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Mongolia, working in the country or living as foreign brides, continue to face discrimination and the same difficult conditions as they did when they first arrived.

Meanwhile, there are few programs directly supporting migrants and the government has continued to force undocumented workers out of the country as a way to deal with the growing number of migrant workers, while ignoring their human rights. But migrants have begun to make change on their own and have seen their efforts materialize in the creation of a union and a growing number of community organizations dedicated to promoting the rights of migrant workers.

The festival’s director, Mahbub Alam, came to Korea over eight years ago and worked 12-15 hour days in furniture and plastics factories before becoming involved with the Migrant Workers Trade Union in 2002. Three years later, working with three fellow migrant workers and one Korean national, he founded Migrant Workers Television, which regularly produces news and information by and for the migrant population, in addition to maintaining a website and sponsoring this year's festival, as a way to combat what he saw as “misrepresentations of migrant workers in the media, with portrayals of migrant workers as helpless or funny.”

Alam has lost friends and colleagues as a result of government crackdowns involving midnight raids and struggles over legality and pay. Alam’s film, “The Deported,” examines the after-effects of these policies. He took his camera to his native Bangladesh to follow the lives of migrant activists who were deported after one such crackdown and their attempts to continue their activism in their homelands.

Media activism in multicultural Korea

In addition to representing these issues, the festival also hopes to visualize the concerns of migrants and help build community. Linda Kwon, who regularly volunteers with MWTV, says that the festival is “a way for migrant workers to see their stories on screen and promote international solidarity among migrant workers.”

Cross-cultural collaborations will also be a feature of this year’s festival with films by Koreans and Burmese filmmakers. Educational outreach to migrant communities generated films in the sections devoted to women and films made by migrant workers.

“Korea is rapidly becoming a multicultural society and this festival reflects that along with the many issues that kind of change brings,” said Kwon.

This year’s festival, as with last year’s two-day event, starts in Seoul and moves on to 10 cities around the country where there are large concentrations of migrant workers. Festival organizers hope the films will resonate with people in these areas and build community through dialogue.

As Alam says, “Many Koreans don’t want to think about migrant workers, so we have to share our experiences with them.” But, he says, there is also a lot of change these days as is evidenced by the number of activists and volunteers who have put time and energy into supporting the cause.

All screenings are free and all of the films will have subtitles in both Korean and English. In addition to the films, there will also be a special party on Saturday night and a community discussion with migrant workers on Sunday. For more information on the festival and a schedule of events, go to the Migrant Worker Film Festival website at http://mwff.or.kr/.

The films in this year’s festival speak to the diversity, vibrancy and persistence of the migrant community, their ability to overcome adversity and activate for change. Watching these Super Migrants shine may just send you home with a smile, and a little extra inspiration, before the last days of summer fade away.

http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_entertainment/232922.html

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