Program Note

The USA has one of the world’s highest crime rates. The biggest problem lies in the fact that prisons go hand in hand with profit-seeking businesses. Given this, how does black/gay/music (e.g. house music) culture function as a counter culture? Asking such an unfamiliar question, the film observes how different scenes unfold in two identical places. While inmates, activists and debaters are engaged in serious conversations, some people lose themselves in dynamic music. Outsiders including British filmmaker Phil Collins are likely to have negative preconceptions about the USA. In that respect, the film offers a fresh new perspective. It’s worth comparing it to Jennie Livingson’s Paris Is Burning (1990). We witness a minor culture that holds up society as a code of liberation and resistance. (LEE Yong-cheol)

감독

필 콜린스

필 콜린스는 대중문화와 정치가 만나는 교차점에 위치한 작품들을 통해 지역사회와 사람들의 문제에 긴밀하게 참여하고 생생하게 사회현실을 다룬다. 그는 전 세계의 청소년들, 난민과 노숙자들, 미디어 스타들을 비롯하여 구동독의 전직 교사들이나 미국교도소의 수감자들과도 함께 작업을 해왔으며, 현재 쾰른 미디어아트 아카데미의 교수로 재직 중이다.