‘Glorious Smallness’ Director Yeha Kwon “Wanted to Talk About the Importance of Everyday Life”
[Provided by Save the Children. Redistribution and DB Prohibited]
(Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Seong Do-hyeon = A high school student who created a self-documentary about experiences of war while living in South Sudan with missionary parents at the age of 10 won the Grand Prize at the ‘2024 Children’s Rights Film Festival’ (CRFF) hosted by Save the Children, an international NGO for children’s rights.
According to Save the Children on the 26th, ‘Glorious Smallness’, directed by child director Yeha Kwon (third-year high school), was unanimously chosen by all judges as the Grand Prize winner at the Children’s Rights Film Festival this year.
Actress Moon So-ri, who participated as a judge, commented, “A personal and honest story can easily become sentimental, but this work did not fall into that, leaving a profound impact on the audience.”
‘Glorious Smallness’ is based on Director Kwon’s experience living in South Sudan.
It depicts the story of losing his everyday life, which was taken for granted, when suddenly facing the South Sudan civil war in 2016.
The documentary includes content about what he saw and learned while growing up in South Sudan, what he lost during the civil war, and the trauma caused by the war.
This work was praised for not listing war images but instead interweaving stories of people dominated by war, capturing the essence of children’s rights through the director’s perspective.
Director Kwon explained, “Friends who looked forward to going to school became child soldiers once the war began, and under the name of war, everyone – adults and children alike – became powerless, losing daily life with friends, dogs, homes, and villages.”
He added, “When guns and knives rendered everyone powerless, I started making films. To me, filmmaking is a narrative that no one else tells. I wanted to talk about the greatness of smallness, the preciousness of everyday life, and the nobleness of the minority.”
On the 23rd, Save the Children held an award ceremony at Megabox Seongsu in Seongdong-gu, Seoul, for six works that reached the finals, including ‘Glorious Smallness’.
The Excellent Prize was awarded to ‘Henzel: Two School Uniform Skirts’ (Director Im Ji-seon), which delicately dealt with friendships.
Four works, ‘Cone’ (Director Yoo Ji-in), ‘Four-leaf Clover’ (Director Kwak Seung-hee), ‘My Room’ (Director Han Se-ha), and ‘That Kid’ (Directors Kim Si-eun, Kang Min-ha), won the Merit Award.
The Audience Award, given to the work with the most votes in online voting, was claimed by ‘Four-leaf Clover’, making it a double award winner.
Winning works are available for free on the film festival’s website (https://www.sc.or.kr/crff) until the closing date of the festival on the 30th of this month.
[Provided by Save the Children. Redistribution and DB Prohibited]
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