Park Se-jong, first Korean film director to be nominated for Academy Award
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In 2002, when the Soccer World Cup that was co-hosted by Korea and Japan swept the entire nation, the Korean people showed the world their great potential and zest. Back then, three words were on everybody's mind -- "dreams come true". But there is a man in Korea who has made his dream come true with his own hands. It's film director Park Se-jong, who has become the first Korean to be nominated for an Academy Award.
Dreams come true
On February 27, Park Se-jong's animation movie "Birthday Boy" was nominated for best short animation movie at the 77th Academy Awards. He became the first Korean-national nominee in the 77-year history of the Academy Awards. In 1989, film director Kristin Choi of Korean descent was nominated for an Academy Award for "Who Killed Vincent Chin?" but he was an American citizen.
Although Park did not receive the Academy Award, he won 35 other film awards worldwide for "Birthday Boy", including the British Academy Award for best short animation movie, best new film director at the Annecy Animation Festival in France and the Siggraph grand prix. These awards are significant in that very few Korean animation films have been recognized globally so far because, despite their superb production technologies, their planning still leaves much to be desired.
A movie made of flesh and blood
"Birthday Boy" is a ten-minute animation film that depicts the tragedy of war through a boy named Min-wook, whose parents perish in the Korean War. Min-wook, who spends time all alone ransacking fighter jet wrecks and playing with toy grenades, receives a small parcel on his birthday, which he presumes to be his birthday present. But when he opens it, he finds a letter notifying him about his father's death, and some of his father's belongings.
Although "Birthday Boy" is a movie about the tragedy of the Korean War and was produced by a Korean director, it is presented as an Australian film at film festivals because its production was funded by the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS), which now holds the copyright of the movie. But it is no exaggeration to say that "Birthday Boy" was produced solely by Park Se-jong. He had to do all the work on his own over several years because he was the only animation filmmaker at the AFTRS. In the beginning, there were few people who believed in the potential of his work. He barely made ends meet because no one was interested in his project. The school started taking interest in "Birthday Boy" when Park was halfway through his work. It provided Park with all necessary equipment and staff, and almost fully funded the project. But Park says the real production cost of this movie was his own flesh and blood.
The love that made him cross the Pacific
After graduating from the Department of Visual Design at Hongik University, Park worked as an advertisement designer. There was a special reason he decided to study at the AFTRS. When he was a college junior, he happened to travel to Melbourne, Australia, where he met an Australian girl named Rene Rego and fell in love with her at first sight. After three years of a long-distance yet passionate relationship across the Pacific Ocean, the two finally tied the knot seven years ago. Shortly after the wedding, Park left Korea to be with the love of his life and settled in Australia. Two weeks later, he got a job as an illustrator at the top-rated Australian weekly magazine The Bulletin. Despite his financial woes, he enrolled at the AFTRS to realize his childhood dream of becoming an animation artist.
Until the day I succeed
It wouldn't be difficult to guess how many obstacles Park had to overcome on his road to becoming an animation artist at a relatively old age and without help from anybody. He was overwhelmed by the variety of animation techniques in the beginning. It especially took him significant time and effort to master three-dimensional techniques, and oftentimes he would stay up all night learning new materials.
It took him three full years to produce "Birthday Boy". He says he took time off from his work only once during that time when he had to visit his wife's family on Christmas, as it is a big holiday in Australia. He felt guilty in front of his mother-in-law back then, because he spent the first year of his marriage studying animation production books in English, the second year he was busy finishing his film, and the third year he almost never left his attic where he was editing the movie's DVD.
Creating films with a human touch
"Birthday Boy", which was born out of Park's devotion and passion for his art, has made him one of the world's top-notch animation film directors. He was even scouted by a large animation studio in Hollywood that offered him full authority and asked him to create an animation movie. But Park has not decided yet whether to accept this fantastic offer. He is truly flattered, but he is not sure the American studio will perfectly understand his imagination.
His true ambition is to break away from the West-centered animation world full of violence and belittlement, and create his own unique, heart-moving animation films that entire families can watch together. He wants his films to move people's hearts with their intense emotions and human touch.
Closing remarks
"Don't stop dreaming". This is Park's favorite phrase. Even after captivating the hearts of viewers all over the world solely through his unswerving devotion, he is not done yet -- he is still dreaming.
Profile
Born in South Korea in 1967
Graduated from the Dept. of Visual Design, Hongik University
Graduated from the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS)
Profile
Annecy Animation Festival, Jean Luc Sivera Award, 2004
Siggraph Award, short animation film category, 2004
Sydney Film Festival, best short animation film, 2004
Bucheon International Students' Animation Festival, grand prix, 2004
British Academy of Film and Television Arts, best short animation film, 2005
Academy Award nominee, best short animation film, 2005
Dreams come true
On February 27, Park Se-jong's animation movie "Birthday Boy" was nominated for best short animation movie at the 77th Academy Awards. He became the first Korean-national nominee in the 77-year history of the Academy Awards. In 1989, film director Kristin Choi of Korean descent was nominated for an Academy Award for "Who Killed Vincent Chin?" but he was an American citizen.
Although Park did not receive the Academy Award, he won 35 other film awards worldwide for "Birthday Boy", including the British Academy Award for best short animation movie, best new film director at the Annecy Animation Festival in France and the Siggraph grand prix. These awards are significant in that very few Korean animation films have been recognized globally so far because, despite their superb production technologies, their planning still leaves much to be desired.
A movie made of flesh and blood
"Birthday Boy" is a ten-minute animation film that depicts the tragedy of war through a boy named Min-wook, whose parents perish in the Korean War. Min-wook, who spends time all alone ransacking fighter jet wrecks and playing with toy grenades, receives a small parcel on his birthday, which he presumes to be his birthday present. But when he opens it, he finds a letter notifying him about his father's death, and some of his father's belongings.
Although "Birthday Boy" is a movie about the tragedy of the Korean War and was produced by a Korean director, it is presented as an Australian film at film festivals because its production was funded by the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS), which now holds the copyright of the movie. But it is no exaggeration to say that "Birthday Boy" was produced solely by Park Se-jong. He had to do all the work on his own over several years because he was the only animation filmmaker at the AFTRS. In the beginning, there were few people who believed in the potential of his work. He barely made ends meet because no one was interested in his project. The school started taking interest in "Birthday Boy" when Park was halfway through his work. It provided Park with all necessary equipment and staff, and almost fully funded the project. But Park says the real production cost of this movie was his own flesh and blood.
The love that made him cross the Pacific
After graduating from the Department of Visual Design at Hongik University, Park worked as an advertisement designer. There was a special reason he decided to study at the AFTRS. When he was a college junior, he happened to travel to Melbourne, Australia, where he met an Australian girl named Rene Rego and fell in love with her at first sight. After three years of a long-distance yet passionate relationship across the Pacific Ocean, the two finally tied the knot seven years ago. Shortly after the wedding, Park left Korea to be with the love of his life and settled in Australia. Two weeks later, he got a job as an illustrator at the top-rated Australian weekly magazine The Bulletin. Despite his financial woes, he enrolled at the AFTRS to realize his childhood dream of becoming an animation artist.
Until the day I succeed
It wouldn't be difficult to guess how many obstacles Park had to overcome on his road to becoming an animation artist at a relatively old age and without help from anybody. He was overwhelmed by the variety of animation techniques in the beginning. It especially took him significant time and effort to master three-dimensional techniques, and oftentimes he would stay up all night learning new materials.
It took him three full years to produce "Birthday Boy". He says he took time off from his work only once during that time when he had to visit his wife's family on Christmas, as it is a big holiday in Australia. He felt guilty in front of his mother-in-law back then, because he spent the first year of his marriage studying animation production books in English, the second year he was busy finishing his film, and the third year he almost never left his attic where he was editing the movie's DVD.
Creating films with a human touch
"Birthday Boy", which was born out of Park's devotion and passion for his art, has made him one of the world's top-notch animation film directors. He was even scouted by a large animation studio in Hollywood that offered him full authority and asked him to create an animation movie. But Park has not decided yet whether to accept this fantastic offer. He is truly flattered, but he is not sure the American studio will perfectly understand his imagination.
His true ambition is to break away from the West-centered animation world full of violence and belittlement, and create his own unique, heart-moving animation films that entire families can watch together. He wants his films to move people's hearts with their intense emotions and human touch.
Closing remarks
"Don't stop dreaming". This is Park's favorite phrase. Even after captivating the hearts of viewers all over the world solely through his unswerving devotion, he is not done yet -- he is still dreaming.
Profile
Born in South Korea in 1967
Graduated from the Dept. of Visual Design, Hongik University
Graduated from the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS)
Profile
Annecy Animation Festival, Jean Luc Sivera Award, 2004
Siggraph Award, short animation film category, 2004
Sydney Film Festival, best short animation film, 2004
Bucheon International Students' Animation Festival, grand prix, 2004
British Academy of Film and Television Arts, best short animation film, 2005
Academy Award nominee, best short animation film, 2005
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