Yang Tesong is a wilful kid at Korean immigrant’s high school and with his closest pals is one of the keenest members of the baseball team. One summer, he is forced into greater awareness of his identity as a Korean third generation immigrant. He finds himself about to be set up by his mother with a nice Korean immigrant girl (instead of the Japanese girl he fancies) and, even more of a crisis, facing a competitive ‘friendly’ with a Japanese high school baseball team. In this brave and promising début, young director Lee Sang-il describes in a charming, skilfully told and involving way the situation of a young man caught between two national identities, in a country where the situation of Korean immigrants was always swept under the carpet. (S.F.)
Film details
Country of production
Japan
Year
1999
Festival edition
IFFR 2000
Length
54"
Medium/Format
16mm
Language
Japanese
Premiere status
European premiere
Director
Lee Sang-Il
Producer
Ito Tadahide, Kosuge Jyunko, Japan Academy of Moving Images