In early July, we had the opportunity to speak exclusively with Korean film Director Yoon Ga-eun, who was in Singapore to celebrate the local release of her latest film, <The World of Love>. Soft-spoken yet deeply passionate about her craft, Director Yoon Ga-eun shared a closer look at the creative journey behind her newest work, from shaping its characters to bringing its emotional world to life. After six years in the making, <The World of Love> reflects the patience, thought, and care poured into every detail, from her unconventional casting process to the storytelling choices that define her filmmaking.
One of the most promising voices in contemporary Korean cinema, Director Yoon Ga-eun is celebrated for her delicate and nuanced portrayal of emotions. Audiences can watch <The World of Love> at Filmhouse, where they can discover the unpredictable world of 17-year-old Lee Jooin, a cheerful friend, a shameless daughter, and a mischievous girlfriend whose peaceful life begins to unravel after a single phrase changes everything.
| Q: To begin with, how would you introduce <The World of Love> to audiences who are hearing about it for the first time? |
| Director Yoon Ga-eun: This film tells the story of an ordinary yet special teenage girl who experiences love for the first time. |
| Q: What does “extraordinary courage in ordinary people” mean to you in this film? |
| Director Yoon Ga-eun: For me, courage is not only shown in extraordinary situations, such as saving someone from a fire or jumping into danger to rescue another person. I believe that going through everyday life and facing daily challenges also requires great courage. Those ordinary moments are what make a person truly courageous. |
| Q: What interested you about Jooin’s decision to refuse the petition and the conflict that follows? |
| Director Yoon Ga-eun: Jooin refuses to sign the petition regarding a rapist because she disagrees with it. She heard the phrase that a victim’s soul is crushed, and because of that, they can no longer continue living. When I think about speaking about the pain of victims or survivors of crimes, whether it is this kind of crime or any other type of crime, I feel that it is not fair to say that a survivor’s soul is so easily crushed. A person’s soul is not something that can be crushed so easily. |
| Q: You selected first-time actor Seo Su-bin after improvisation exercises and her Taekwondo background. What did improvisation exercises reveal to you that traditional auditions might not have shown? |
| Director Yoon Ga-eun: I think a good audition should follow the script written by the scenario writer and also reflect the atmosphere of the filming set. I believe the audition style should also change depending on the director’s style. Personally, I felt that I did not have the skills to judge how good an actor was simply by asking them to act out a particular scene. Instead, I wanted to see the actor as a whole, including how they react and how they move. Through that process, I could see which character would suit them best, and that was why I chose this unconventional method. When I auditioned the actors, I did not give them a name or gender for the character. This was because I did not want to look for a particular trait from them. I wanted to see how they would react to a situation. |
| Q: If Jooin could ask the world one question, what would it be? |
| Director Yoon Ga-eun: This is a very difficult question. Jooin is someone who wants to find love and experience it for herself. Off the top of my head, I feel that the question she would ask the world is, “How do you find love, and where do you seek love?” |
| Q: Chang Hyae-jin’s role in Parasite was very memorable but quite different in tone. What new side of her did you want to bring out in <The World of Love>? |
| Director Yoon Ga-eun: I have worked with her for almost ten years, and I knew her even before the film Parasite. She often plays the role of a mother, where she is portrayed as adorable, warm, motherly, and sometimes a little fussy. Through the many roles she has played over the years, I felt that she had another side that she could portray. By observing her, I realised that she has those motherly qualities, but she can also be sharp, sensitive, and capable of having very deep reflective thoughts. Instead of portraying her as a typical mother, I wanted to portray her as a fifty-year-old individual woman who happens to have a daughter. It is not just about portraying a mother’s role, but about portraying the life of an individual through her, and I felt that she could express that very well. |
| Q: You are presenting not just the film in Singapore, but also a masterclass and your earlier short films Guest and Sprout. What do you hope young filmmakers here will take away? |
| Director Yoon Ga-eun: I actually feel like I am the one who should be learning from them. I recently watched some films by Singaporean filmmakers, and I was very impressed and inspired by them. I have been thinking about what kind of advice I can give to young filmmakers here. I want to tell them that in this current generation, everything changes very quickly, and the pace at which trends change is also very fast. Because things are changing so quickly and we have access to more information, we also experience more anxiety. My anxiety as a young person cannot be compared to the anxieties that young people have today, and I feel that their worries are very deep. I believe films can reflect the courage you have and your desire to move forward. So I would tell them, let’s move forward together and let’s be brave together. |
| Q: Could you share which directors or films have most influenced your filmmaking style? |
| Director Yoon Ga-eun: I am actually a film enthusiast, and there are several filmmakers whose works I constantly watch when I am producing a new film. They include Hirokazu Kore-eda, Ken Loach, the Dardenne brothers, and Lee Chang-dong, a director from Korea. |
| Q: After this film, what kinds of stories do you hope to explore in the future? |
| Director Yoon Ga-eun: My goal is to make many more films. I did not intend for this film to take six years to complete, but because there were many changes along the way, the process took longer than expected. In the future, I want to make more films so that I can continue learning. I once received an offer to produce a film quickly, but I felt that the production style was quite different from my usual approach. I went to a temple and did fortune telling, and the result said, “No pain, no gain.” So I decided that instead of taking a shortcut, I would continue with the slow and steady pace that I normally follow. |
| Q: This is your first visit to Singapore. How do you feel about bringing <The World of Love> to the Singapore audience, and what would you like to say to them? |
| Director Yoon Ga-eun: I feel that this is quite a family-oriented film, and it also has a high-teen romance style. I would like to tell audiences to watch the film, laugh, feel comfortable, relate to the different characters, and simply relax and enjoy it. |
Experience <The World of Love> at Filmhouse and follow Jooin’s journey as she navigates love, misunderstandings, and the challenges of finding her place in the world.
