The Creators Of BFI LFF Hit Film Becoming Who I Was Speak To The Blog!

11:23:00



Good Morning Lovelies, 

Sadly the BFI London Film Festival is now over for another year, but in the wake of this film sadness, I have some exciting news to bring you all!

Back at the start of October, I held an interview with creators Jin Jeon and Moon Chang-yong about their new film, Becoming Who I Was, which was featured at the event and it is finally here for you to all enjoy…

Firstly, congratulations on Becoming Who I Was for being chosen for the BFI London Film Festival this year! How does it feel to be selected?
Jin Jeon: It’s an honour to be selected at a prestigious event such as BFI London. We haven’t yet premiered in the UK, so this is a really great opportunity for us to showcase our work in London. It’s a pity that we only have one screening there, but it’s also exciting to know that the tickets have been sold out weeks before the festival began.

For those who haven’t heard about the film, please could you tell us what it is about?
It is 800 plus hours of film over 8 years, documenting an unparalleled story of unconditional love between a young ‘Chosen One’ in Ladakh and his ageing teacher who embark on a difficult journey to Tibet.

Where did the idea for Becoming Who I Was come from when you first decided to make it?
Moon Chang-yong: It wasn’t easy to understand the depth of the meaning behind ‘reincarnation’ and ‘Rinpoche’ at first – words that are commonly understood within Tibetan Buddhism. Even as distant as the concept was to me as a foreigner, the love and sacrifice that was evident between the Rinpoche and his godfather moved me deeply. It conjured up a familiar past feeling of the unconditional love I received from my mother. This heart-warming love story found in the barren land of Ladakh gave me a sense of hope.

I wanted to continue to capture the lives of our two characters, when I first met them in Ladakh, while filming for a different documentary, back in 2009. It compelled me to remind the world of this worthy and valuable human experience that we have long forgotten, as we go about living our busy lives in the modern world. This young Rinpoche of noble birth, who in contrast has been dealt a bad hand, only has his ageing godfather to depend on. As they rely on each other with love and trust, this story highlights the reality of how difficult yet beautiful it is to guard one’s belief and to journey on to find one’s place in the world.

Padma Angdu is a very cute child going through some very religious and tough matters. How did you find him?
This is a real-life documentary. They are not actors. They are themselves, living out their true lives, as you see in this documentary film. Director Moon Chang-yong had built a rapport with our protagonists since meeting them in 2009. He had a standing relationship with them prior to the enthronement of Padma Angdu as a Rinpoche in 2010 – which to us, was very coincidental and surprising. Moon had known Padma Angdu before he was recognized as a great reincarnate from Tibet, and so the trust was already there for us to have that access to film a Rinpoche up close and personal – which is rare for someone of that stature in the Tibetan Buddhist community. (*Please note that their religion is Tibetan Buddhism, but they are Ladakhi, Indian people.) Over the years, we continued to build a relationship with our two protagonists which gave us this unique access not only into their lives but allowed for us to capture the intimacy in their every day.

Due to budget issues and filming over a long period of time (8 years), we couldn't hire a professional crew - which turned out, to be in our interest, or to our advantage. Since there was just two of us with DSLR cameras in hand, we could really build a close relationship with our protagonists and be a ‘fly on the wall’ so to speak. But it was also difficult to manage everything on our own – just myself and Moon, in terms of the entire production process, through to the end.

The filming took over eight years to do, what did you learn about filmmaking during this process that you weren’t aware of before?
The production of our film over a period of 9 years was a real journey for both the protagonists and for us, as filmmakers alike. It took a lot of mental strength and most importantly, endurance. The film was a platform through which we were able to relay the important story of unconditional love that we felt while being with our protagonists, and the journey to ‘becoming.’ Perhaps the story is still incomplete, but after the completion of this film, we have also embarked on a journey of ‘becoming’ ourselves, too. With this film, we have learned to endure the hardship to come out on the other end, knowing that we have not given up. The story is also about not giving up, no matter the circumstance. We want this to translate to the audience of our film, to motivate and to inspire.

The documentary is in the family category at the festival, how important do you think it is that we start making documentaries for all ages?
I think we often undermine the intelligence of children. We have seen at the Berlin International Film Festival earlier this year that the young audiences of ages 9 and up were so focused in watching a 95-minute-long film with so much concentration, and we were so amazed at their questions and reaction after the film, during the Q&A session. They were detailed and unwavering in their viewpoint, and so honest. Documentaries are not only to entertain but also to inform, and this is a powerful tool in the educational aspect for people of all ages. We are so happy to be able to share our film with our younger audiences around the globe.

Is there a moment in the documentary that you want audiences to look out for? If so, why this one?
We hope that our audiences in London and in around the world can laugh and cry with our protagonists, much like we did when we spent time with them in the remote village of Ladakh. With over 800 hours of footage “compressed” into a 95-minute-long documentary, the selection of every scene during our editing process was a huge challenge. We can only hope that we have expressed the characters, environment and circumstances of our subject matter in a way that can touch the hearts of those who watch the film. The story touched our hearts and we hope that it would do the same for our viewers, regardless of race, gender, age, nationality and background.

Are there any films at the festival that you are hoping to catch whilst here?
I usually like to watch other films that are also selected in the same category as my film, in all of the film festivals that I am fortunate enough to attend. So they are mostly always documentaries, which I love to make and to watch.

Finally, can you tell us anything about what you are working on next?
Moon is currently directing his other project that follows a beautiful character in the biggest landfill in Indonesia, who has 7 other siblings, all working under a modern-day slavery system; while I am busy producing for another film on the life of the number one kitchen star in South Korea whose claim to fame is using natural foraged ingredients that others consider to be inedible. We aren't currently working together, but they are both character-driven human-interest documentaries, which we love.

Look out for more news on Becoming Who I Was very soon lovelies! 

Blog Soon, 
Joey X 

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