‘Microhabitat’ director Jeon Go-woon on the motivation behind her film, Filipino audiences, and K-Pop

With neon blue-green streaks in her hair, Korean film director Jeon Go-woon is a palpable force at the opening night of the 9th annual Korean Film Festival at Samsung Hall in SM Aura, BGC, where her debut feature film, Microhabitat, serves as the headliner and opener of the two-day festival. Since premiering a little over two years ago, in October 2017, the film has garnered a handful of awards in Korea, including the CGV Arthouse Award at the 22nd Busan International Film Festival.

We spoke to director Jeon Go-woon herself on the motivation behind her film, Filipino audiences, and working with K-Pop star IU.

Microhabitat is your first feature film after formerly being an actress and writer. How did you think of telling this story?

When you live in Seoul, in society, you worry a lot about pricing houses, which are very high. But I wanted audiences to remember the importance of having relationships between people.

Although it’s a Korean story, how do you think Filipino audiences will relate to it?

Since I haven’t been to the Philippines or lived here, I don’t really know the culture, so I can’t really pinpoint what part of the movie audiences can relate to, but I think that knowing the culture difference is also an important meaning of this movie.

Korean entertainment is very well accepted here, with K-Pop and K-Dramas. Why do you think Philippine audiences love them so much?

I think that Korean artists, like the various K-Pop idols, the people there are very hardworking, and that is the reason for them having a very wide influence.

Are there any K-Dramas or K-Pop acts that you like?

Right now, I like watching movies on Netflix, and I like IU, because we worked together on Persona , when I directed Kiss Burn.

After Microhabitat, do you have any plans on what kind of films you want to do in the future?

I’m gonna work very hard! I plan to make a film revolving around a female main character who is…very curious and attractive.

This interview has been edited for clarity. Director Jeon Go-woon’s answers were originally in Korean, and were translated by an on-site interpreter.

Originally published at https://share.snippetmedia.com on Nov. 8, 2019.