프로그램 노트

Program Note​

How to become a rock is remarkably assured. The composition of shots, the interplay between music and scenes, and the editing—interweaving images of movement and stillness to create a rhythmic flow and heighten emotion—are all strikingly refined. And yet, this film was made as a second-year university workshop project. While student films often carry a charm born of rawness and inexperience, encountering a work this technically polished feels refreshingly unfamiliar—in a positive way.

The story follows Modoo, a young man from Japan, and his friend Mizo. From the  beginning, the film incorporates footage from Iwai Shunji's Love Letter and intertwines Japanese and Korean, evoking an underlying sense of migration—a diasporic sensibility. Yet Modoo, the protagonist, longs to become a rock. A rock is utterly immovable—the very opposite of migration and constant change. However, the film does not attempt to explain why an immigrant would wish to become a rock. At the Diaspora Film Festival, one might be inclined to interpret the film's stance and message through a predefined framework. However, the film seems unconcerned with offering insight into Modoo's unfathomable emotions. Instead, it simply presents Mizo, who chooses to stay by his side, quietly witnessing his journey of discipline. Once the film chooses to visualize a story and emotions that are not easily understood through logic, what becomes essential is the ability to stir the viewer's emotions through carefully crafted imagery. And How to become a rock succeeds in doing just that. (PARK Jihan)