In a cinematic ode to the golden era of Korean cinephilia, Yellow Door: ’90s Lo-fi Film Club invites viewers to revisit the passionate days of young film enthusiasts who paved the way for the Korean cinematic renaissance.
The documentary is set to make its world premiere at the prestigious 28th Busan International Film Festival‘s Wide Angle: Documentary Showcase Section. This section has long been a stage for groundbreaking documentaries that push the boundaries of storytelling.
Directed by Lee Hyuk-rae, Yellow Door: ’90s Lo-fi Film Club will be released on Netflix on October 27. It retraces the memories of the members of the Yellow Door Film Club—Lee was also a member— offering a rare glimpse into their cinematic journey and their impressions of the first short film by now-legendary director Bong Joon Ho. Bong made history at the Academy Awards in 2020 when his film, Parasite, became the first non-English language movie to win best picture.
The 1990s witnessed an explosion of film clubs on Korean campuses, providing young students with a creative outlet and a platform to study the art of cinema. Yellow Door Film Club was one of them. Back in 1993, a fresh-faced Bong was an integral part of this gathering of film aficionados, and he meticulously managed the club’s video library of cinematic masterpieces from around the world. “We were the first generation of cinephiles,” said director Bong in the trailer.
It was during this heady, carefree era where they were all united by a shared passion of cinema that Bong screened his unreleased first short film, a stop motion animation titled Looking for Paradise, exclusively for the club members. “It was the first time I created something with a narrative,” he recalled.
Those were early days in Bong’s artistic journey but club members could already tell that he would go far. “The essence of director Bong’s films was already established in that film,” recounted one member. Or as another member quipped, “I knew he’d make it… but not this big.”
Discover some of the most formative years of director Bong’s life in Yellow Door: ‘90s Lo-fi Film Club on October 27.
*Press Release
