Son Tae-Gyum Analysis

Son Tae-gyum was born in 1986 in South Korea and graduated from the Department of Cinema Studies at Chung-Ang University. With "Fly By Night" (2011), he won the Cinéfondation third prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2011. In 2012, he joins Korean Academy of Film and directs "Bicycle Thief". In 2013, his "In the Summer" wins Busan Film Festival's Sonje Award. "Baby Beside" me is his debut feature.

In 2011, you won the Cinéfondation third prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Are you proud of this accomplishment, and do you think it helped your career?

Of course, the prize helped me a lot. Thanks to that, I was invited to a lot of other film festivals and I've been noticed by the audience. Before I received the prize, the future was unclear,

It is a good and strict national film school. If you want to apply there, you should have your own portfolio. There is a one-year course in which you can make a short film and a full-length film. They support production costs and provide equipment, and many mentors give good advice. It is famous for its very strong critique in the classes. Sometimes, too much criticism led us to frustration, but one can still learn many things.

"Baby Beside Me" is your first feature film. Can you tell us a bit about the experience of shooting the movie? Are you satisfied with its success?

The process of filming a feature-length film was a completely new experience. Because the filming period was long, I felt like I was going to work somewhere like a public service every day. And it took a lot of nerve to maintain good relationships with all crew. Above all, the production budget was not sufficient. So I received a lot of help from people around me. I always felt like I was in debt.

Perhaps there are a few directors who are satisfied with their first work. I am happy that I completed the filming feature, but I still think there are too many mistakes. So I just want to take more pictures and have more experience to do

Why did you choose him for the part, and how did you guided him in the film? In general, how do you choose your actors?

- I discovered the actor in the Leesong Hee-il’s film “White Night.” I really loved his sharp image. So when I wrote my script, I though that he would suit the main character. So I called him personally , and fortunately I was able to cast him.

We discussed a lot. And we practiced a lot with other actors to understand the situation of the main character. Fortunately, the actor had a lot of passion. Also, he understood the main characters through various experiences in his teenage years.

Except for some leading actors, the rest of the cast was selected by the audition. I had a lot of private conversations with actors through auditions, because I was so curious about their real lives and philosophies. And it is also important whether the actor's personality resonates well with me or not.

Korean cinema is probably at the top of Asian cinema at the moment, particularly through the plethora of major productions. How is the situation with independent productions,