The 20th Seoul International Eco Film Festival, Grand Prize (2023,Korea)
The 25th International Women's Film Festival in Seoul (2023,Korea)
The 10th ChunCheon Film Festival (2023,Korea)
The 18th London Korean Film Festival (2023,UK)
The 16th Jeonbuk Women Film Fetival (2023,Korea)
The 15th Seoul International Architecture Film Festival (2023,Korea)
The 8th London East Asia Film Festival (2023,UK)
The 27th Busan International Film Festival, Documentary Competition (2022,Korea)
The 48th Seoul Independent Film Festival, Feature Competition * Audience Award (2022,Korea)

 

Filmmaker Yun has moved with her son Do-young to Gunsan, the central city for the reclamation project. There she meets Dong-pil, a carpenter and citizen scientist, and his son Seung-jun. As a member of the Citizens Survey Group, Dong-pil has been photographing birds for 20 years to provide evidence that legally protected birds live in ‘Sura’, the last remaining tidal flat in the area.

 

Dong-pil cannot forget the enchanting group dance of thousands of shorebirds he saw there a long time ago. Yun listens to Dong-pil's story and feels that the fascination he felt is passed on to her. In order to record the remaining beauty of Sura, she resumes the documentary film that she gave up on in the past. Dong-pil's son Seung-jun has been following his father in search of shorebirds since he learned to walk and has become Dong-pil's reliable companion. Seung-jun takes Do-young with him to Sura to show him the life and beauty of the tidal flat.

 

Since a new airport construction plan has been announced, Sura is in danger of being destroyed. Yun, Dong-pil and Seung-jun set out on a journey to protect Sura, trying to find evidence that the protected species live here.

 

Will they hear the ochre-rumped bunting sing and see Sura full of life again?

 

 

“SURA: A LOVE SONG tells the story of citizens who do not give in to the violence of national projects, but resist with the act of ‘recording’. The film is also about the 'memory' of people who cannot forget the beauty they encountered.

When I heard Dong-pil’s story about the unforgettable shorebirds' group dance, the sense of wonder, longing, and loss he would have felt just overwhelmed me. And that became the driving force behind my seven-year-long journey of making this film.

In this world where the beauty to remember is gradually disappearing, we still record today, believing in the power of memories and records.”

 

 

- Hwang-Yun