Underplayed Gems

Strange Meetings (2018)

Strange Meetings poster
Directed by
Jane Jin Kaisen
Genre
documentary film
Country
Denmark
Runtime
11 min
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

More films like this

How it feels

The film traces the close ties between the US and South Korea by looking at a former facility built to isolate prostitutes suspected of having sexually transmitted diseases. The abandoned building now hosts a weekly performance that blurs the past and present and challenges how the site is understood.

contemplativehauntingslow-pacedmelancholicobservationalunsettlingatmosphericthought-provoking

What happens

Strange Meetings er en dansk dokumentarfilm fra 2018 instrueret af Jane Jin Kaisen. En film, der vidner om umuligheden i at opretholde klare grænser ved at efterspore de tætte relationer mellem USA og Sydkorea i forsøget på at hindre spredningen af STD (seksuelt overførte sygdomme) blandt amerikanske soldater, der var udstationeret i Sydkorea i 1970'erne. Værket dokumenterer en tidligere STD-facilitet, som tjente til at isolere de kroppe, der formodedes at være urene, af de, der blev anset som rene. Som vært for en række sære møder vidner stedet imidlertid i dag om de sammenviklede relationer, der lå til grund for dets etablering. Den forfaldne bygning overtages af omgivelserne og forskelle mellem indre og ydre, struktur og vegetation nedbrydes. Udover at være et forladt sted i forfald tjener bygningen også som en kulisse for et andet møde: En performance finder sted hver weekend, hvilket uforvarende komplicerer forholdet mellem fortid og nutid og slører 'læsningen' af stedet ved at underkende, men potentielt også uddrive dets historie. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? You can browse by genre, country and year, or take this one into the 3D catalogue and ask the Catbot for something closer.