Yellow Ribbon
April 16, 2014. A ferry departing from Incheon to the island of Jeju sinks. On board of the ship is a total of 476 passengers and crew. 304, of which 250 high school students, die a horrible drowning death. The sinking of the MC Sewol kickstarted a widespread political and social reaction within South Korea, aimed at the ferry’s captain and crew, ferry operator, and the entire Park Geun-hye administration for its dramatic disaster response.
Five years later, director JU Huyn-sook retraces Korea’s national trauma by following five people with their own memories and scars of that fatal morning. Yellow Ribbon is an urgent and heartfelt documentary giving a unique insight in the aftermath of one of South Korea’s most sensitive traumas in recent history.
Official Selection