Program Note
Borg, the First Secretary of the Swedish Embassy stationed in Pyongyang, stands out with his blond hair amid the sea of black hair in the city. His diplomatic status offers him protection, but at the same time, makes him a constant subject of surveillance. The fact that he is secretly involved with Bok-joo, a Pyongyang citizen working as a traffic officer, makes their relationship all the more precarious. With only a short time left before he must return to his home country, Borg’s meetings with Bok-joo—crossing borders, systems, and ideological walls—grow more desperate and heartfelt as their inevitable farewell approaches. But one day, after a strange man catches sight of them together, Bok-joo vanishes without a trace. On a cold winter day just before the New Year, Borg sets off to find her, leaving behind what little time he has left in North Korea. In the process, he begins to sense something unusual about Lee Myeong-jun, his longtime interpreter. As Pyongyang prepares to welcome the New Year, will Borg and Bok-joo be able to reunite in the square once more? Supported by the Korean Academy of Film Arts, The Square is an animated work that beautifully captures the fragile emotions that bloom in the bleak, gray atmosphere of Pyongyang. Amidst suppressed emotions and the heavy weight of the regime, the film delicately portrays the human feelings of Borg, Bok-joo, and Myeong-jun, telling a deeply human story at the heart of a city defined by surveillance and isolation. (Kani KIM)