1. Things That Do Us Part (우리를 갈라놓는 것들)
Things That Do Us Part is a documentary that reframes the stories of three women fighters who dove into a tragic war in modern Korean history, using witness statements and reenactments.
2. The Big Picture (그리고 싶은 것)
(그리고 싶은 것)
It has an average vote of 10 on TMDB.
3. Comfort (보드랍게)
KIM Soonak is a survivor of sex slavery by the Japanese military. The war may have ended, but her life was still at a war. She lived in the prostitute quarters to survive, did sex business in the US military camp town, and peddled goods from the US military. She raised two kids on her own as she worked as a maid. We’ll listen to her story in her absence. The film reconstructs the life story of the deceased KIM Soonak with interviews with activists, archive videos, animation, and read-aloud testimony.
4. East Asia Anti-Japan Armed Front (동아시아반일무장전선)
(동아시아반일무장전선)
It has an average vote of 3 on TMDB.
5. Hundred Years' War in Korea (백년전쟁 1부: 두 얼굴의 이승만)
(백년전쟁 1부: 두 얼굴의 이승만)
6. 1919 Yu Gwan-sun (1919 유관순)
A film that explores the lives of female independence activists who fought against the Japanese Occupation in the North and South of Korea.
It has an average vote of 10 on TMDB.
7. The Silence (沈黙－立ち上がる慰安婦)
The Silence narrates the struggle of fifteen "comfort women"—former sex slaves by the Imperial Japanese Army during WWII—for recognition and reparation. The "comfort women" issue has previously been treated almost exclusively within the framework of Korean nationalism. The Silence will provide insight into the ways in which nationalism and the emergence of post-war Asian nation-states have hindered the understanding of "comfort women" narratives through Zainichi Korean documentary filmmaker Soo-nam Park's point of view.
It has an average vote of 10 on TMDB.
8. My name is KIM Bok-dong (김복동)
In 1992, KIM Bok-dong, reported herself as a victim of the sexual slavery, "comfort women" during World War Ⅱ. She wanted to receive the proper apology from the Japan government but they denied its responsibility. In 2011, commemorating the 1000th Wednesday demonstration, Statue of Peace was installed in front of the Embassy of Japan. The fight over Japan confronts a new stage.
It has an average vote of 10 on TMDB.
9. The Ukishima Maru Massacre (우키시마호)
22nd of August, 1945. Japan lost the war and they loaded an 8,000 person Joseon laborer force onto a ship called the Ukisima to take them to the Busan Port. However, the ship sunk into the water due to an unknown blast. This is the story of thousands of Joseon people who dreamed of returning to their families and how they died.
10. Shusenjo: The Main Battleground of the Comfort Women Issue
A Japanese-American director digs deep into the controversial 'comfort women' issue to settle the debate on whether the women were paid prostitutes or sex slaves, and reveals the motivations and intentions of the main actors pushing to revise history in Japan.
It has an average vote of 7.4 on TMDB.
11. Media Mafia: a Tale of Two Newspapers (족벌-두 신문 이야기)
The 100 years of history of the Chosun Ilbo and the Dong-A Ilbo show that wrong press can be a social weapon.
It has an average vote of 5.5 on TMDB.
12. The Cross of North Gando (북간도의 십자가)
The Christians of North Gando lose their country and leave their hometown, but gain the Gospel. The cross they hold in their hands is the symbol of daring for independence and a royal summon of the generation they have to endure. Historian Sim Yo Han retraces the footsteps of the late Father Moon Dong Hwan and finds meanings of the anti-Japanese independence movement hidden in various parts of North Gando.
13. A Song of Korean Factory Girls (조선인 여공의 노래)
During the Japanese colonial period, 22 Korean female workers were forced to work in a spinning mill in Osaka across the sea to support their families. Despite facing discrimination and violence, their testimonies and life-affirming songs of victory have endured.
14. Annyeong, Sayonara
This joint Korean-Japanese production follows a Korean woman, Lee Ha-jong, as she searches for her father's remains. He - like tens of thousands of other Koreans - was forced into the Japanese military, and subsequently killed during WW2. She is joined by a Japanese man, seeking reconciliation between his country's military past, and the countries victimized by that history. The filmmakers portray both sides of a still highly emotional debate that centers around the enshrinement of soldiers at the Yasukuni Shrine, and Lee's lawsuit to prevent her father from being enshrined there. As Lee visits Japan and the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, she confronts - and is confronted by a wall of nationalistic pride that might be compared to neo-Nazis defending the righteousness of The Reich. This is contrasted with her meeting and working with Japanese peace activists, who deplore their countries' militaristic past, and seek to heal the wounds with her neighbors.
15. Land of My Father (아버지의 땅)
Byeong-man, a farmer whose father was enslaved during Japan's occupation of Korea, protests the Japanese government's claim over the disputed island territory of Dokdo. Kyeong Sook, a woman who lived on Dokdo with her father, struggles to keep his legacy alive after the Korean government mysteriously erased their history. Set in the unresolved trauma of the Japanese occupation of Korea, Land of My Father is a story about two lives that are intertwined with a remote disputed island.
16. Love, Lies (해어화)
Two best friends, So-yool and Yeon-hee, dream of becoming the top artists in Seoul together. But their friendship doesn't last long as Yoon-woo, So-yool's first love and songwriter, falls in love with Yeon-hee and her voice. So-yool's feeling of jealousy and inferiority towards Yeon-hee grows by the day, and she eventually makes a drastic decision to bring the two lovers down.
It has an average vote of 7.941 on TMDB.
17. Spirits' Homecoming (귀향)
After the Japanese kidnap two Korean teenagers and take them to a comfort station to join other girls who are serving as sex slaves, only one of them survives. Decades later, the elderly woman tries to reunite with her friend's spirit.
It has an average vote of 7.3 on TMDB.
18. Five Hostesses for the Resistance (장안명기 오백화)
A patriot Park No-Hun is dispatched by Shanghai Provisional Government for Independence to assassinate members of the House of Council. In this situation Young-Kuk, brother of Hyeon-Ju who is a kisaeng of Myeong Wol Kwan, is jailed and Choi Chil-Yong, an inspector of Japanese Higher Police Department, is in agony of difficulties between Korea and Japan. Shin Yun-Il, a member of the council falls in love with a kisaeng whose name is Jeong-Mi. All of these are going their way under the influence of phases of the times such as carrying out colonial policies and each of them is linked complicatedly and causes troubles. After all their efforts concentrated on Independence of Korea, and Park No-Hun carried out his mission with help of 5 kisaengs of Myeong Wol Kwan. Finally he leaves for Shanghai with them.
19. General's Son (장군의 아들)
In Japanese-occupied South Korea, a young man, newly-released from prison, is accepted into a gang for his fighting skills and quickly rises to the top. Based on the life of South Korean mobster and politician Kim Du-han.
It has an average vote of 5.9 on TMDB.
20. The Last Comfort Women (마지막 위안부)
This film tells the story of three young women from South Korea, Japan, and China who were ravaged after becoming comfort women in the Japanese army.
