Diya on Korea

In October 2023, I got to see the film ‘Her Hobby’ as part of the London East Asian Film Festival (LEAFF) screening. The film was a striking visual directorial debut from Ha Myung Mi. The director partook in a short question and answer session following the film and posed for pictures following with the audience. See my review of the film here

Sadly, I had to take off just after the Q&A and was not able to meet the fabulous director. However, I managed to catch up with her via social media and we connected through email.

She very generously answered my many questions, which I broke into two topics; about her and about the film.

With thanks to Director Ha, a translation app, and of course my Korean bestie, we communicated through Korean and English and produced the following interview.

I take pleasure in giving freedom to characters who are trapped in stories they cannot tell the world.

About you as a Director:

What themes or topics inspire you to make films?

Inspiration for my films comes from many different places, so it’s hard to say. However, I’m very interested in the ‘secrets’ that people cannot tell others.

I take pleasure in giving freedom to characters who are trapped in stories they cannot tell the world. I am particularly inspired by women’s voices and their secret narratives. The secret stories that they hold and how they move through life with them.

What films and directors inspire you?

 I find inspiration in a wide variety of films. Some of my favourite and most influential directors are Jane Campion, Celine Sciamma and Kathryn Bigelow.

Aki Kaurismäki, Ari Astor, Peter Jackson, Pedro Almodóvar, Chan-wook Park, and Guillermo Del Toro are other directors who also inspire me.

What made you decide to become a film director and what has been your most enjoyable experience as one?

 I decided to become a filmmaker when I was in the third grade of elementary school. My father worked in a theatre, so I was exposed to a lot of American and Korean films from a young age. Films such as King Kong, Abyss, Batman, for example.

The most enjoyable experience as a filmmaker is seeing the images and stories you have imagined come to life on the set. Most of all, I enjoy watching it all on the screen together with the audience.

The experience of making a film can give one a sense of fulfilment and desire, but at the same time, it can also destroy your life.

Based on everything you know and have experienced, what advice would you give to someone starting out in this profession?

Firstly, make sure you do not burn out and get on with the essentials of your life. Making a film is such a long and arduous journey.

It is helpful to be grounded and have a good personality. It is also important to have a good way of communicating with others and working with them.  I personally find this the best way to enjoy this work. The experience of making a film can give one a sense of fulfilment and desire, but at the same time, it can also destroy your life. We believe that a good film cannot be made alone but is created with many people. They are united to achieve the same goal and communicate in the right language.

Making a film takes a small idea from a single person along with the talents and contributions from many other people along the way.

 To communicate well with others, you need to know who you are and love yourself. Then can you only love the things you work with and appreciate them and what they bring.

Good films are made in collaboration when we can understand and communicate in each other’s language. It’s the most important talent a filmmaker can have, and it’s something that needs to be honed. If you can master it, you can make good films. I have yet to achieve this, but this is something I am continuously working on.

Hye-jung’s gaze goes beyond friendship and sisterhood.  It is a gaze of love. It is also a queer gaze. I tried to make this unclear, but it is what I wanted to convey in the film.

About the film ‘Her Hobby’

What are the main messages you would like the audience to take away from watching this beautifully scripted and well-crafted film?

I hope audiences will empathise with the struggles of the two women trying to put their lives back together.

These characters in this mystery crime drama are the underdogs of our society. They are living with painful secrets that they cannot tell others.

I want the audience members to feel their sadness and think of them and care about them. To feel and understand why they have no other choice than to pick up a gun and understand the points where revenge is not realistic.

Maybe there are others out there who are experiencing a similar pain and can relate.

What has been the most unusual or unexpected audience or critical response to the film since it was screened in Korea and abroad?

 After the screening at Jakarta Film Week in Indonesia, many Indonesian women in the audience deeply sympathised with the situation and pain of the two characters.

Many women thanked me for making this film and thanked me for having the courage to do so. It made me remember the start of my journey and why it took the courage for me to make this film.

When I first planned this film, I had a certain amount of fear.  During the preparing of the film, it was one of the most intense times of gender conflict in Korean society. Some men were uncomfortable with feminism, and there was a lot of backlash on social media. I was afraid of receiving negative remarks and bad reviews from men, regardless of the film’s subject matter.  However, after completing the film, many of the male audiences were so supportive that I forgot about these fears.

However, female Indonesian audiences are aware that this gender conflict exists in Indonesian society and that female directors are afraid to make films on this topic. The gratitude they expressed to me was heartbreaking.  They told me that the film had given them courage, and I was extremely touched.

There is a very protective attitude between Hye-Jung and Jung-In, and there is an atmosphere of mutual respect between them. Do you think there is something deeper beyond friendship and sisterhood?

Hye-jung’s gaze goes beyond friendship and sisterhood.  It is a gaze of love. It is also a queer gaze. I tried to make this unclear, but it is what I wanted to convey in the film.

I also wonder if compassion, curiosity, and attraction can be expressed in a language other than ‘love’.

Hye-jung’s sexual identity is different from Jung-in’s and is pansexual. I wanted the audience to experience a range of emotions from the effect Hye-jung has on Jung, which makes her a more three-dimensional and complex character.

Looking at the two, I was intrigued by the way you showed the slow, evolving relationship between the two characters. Such as the gifts, the passage between the two houses, etc. One thing that struck me was the greetings between the two of them. The slow awkward uncomfortable waves. It almost seemed deliberate. Was there a particular reason you focused on this?

I was intrigued by the portrayal of the relationship between the two characters and the different ways in which women view and approach other women, and how their relationship goes from complete strangers to deep friendship.

I wanted to slowly show their journey to finding their own personas. It’s like two women meeting naked in the middle of the ocean, swimming through the churning waves and slowly getting closer to each other.

It is an unfamiliar image, perhaps, and that’s why it can be uncomfortable. But out of that discomfort, I wanted the audience to be very tense, and I wanted them to actively imagine the direction of their relationship. This can be tiring and uncomfortable to ask the question, “Why?” but it keeps you thinking and guessing.

Throughout the film, there are a lot of metaphors you used that symbolise the relationship, was there one that you particularly liked?

  Yes, I love the meaning of the three-leaf clover. Two women who want to live a life of simple pleasures and happiness do not need a four-leaf clover to be lucky. They just want to be happy. It represents that sadness of frustration of why does misfortune happen. So, I wanted to give them a three-leaf clover.

My favourite symbol is the scene where they are ‘waving’ to each other. At first, it was a greeting, but gradually it became a way of checking for survival.

 “Sister, are you alive today?” Jung-in waves her hand, and Hye-jung responds, “Yes, I’m lucky to be alive.”

In a world where women are dying because of misogyny, women are always worried about the safety of other women. It’s a sad but yet beautiful way of expressing solidarity.

With thanks to Ha Myung-Mi & London East Asian Film Festival

See my review of ‘Her Hobby’