Film professor Min Bae explores the question of why rescue efforts were neglected when a ferry sank of the coast of South Korea in his documentary, “Reset.”
The Directors Guild of Canada, representing the country’s top film production professionals, has nominated two UWindsor professors for projects in the industry.
Min Bae was long-listed for the Directors Guild of Canada’s Jean-Marc Vallee Discovery Award for his documentary feature debut, Reset. The award honours the director of a film that reflects “a bold, new cinematic voice.”
Reset tells the devastating true story of South Korea’s worst maritime disaster, the April 2014 sinking of the Sewol ferry that killed 304 passengers, the majority of casualties schoolchildren. Besides Bae, who directed, produced, and served as director of photography, the crew included UWindsor alumni Gemma Cunial (BA 2019, MFA 2021) as associate producer, Armand Bejrami (BA 2018) as camera assistant, and Marcus Pasceri (BA 2019) as sound recordist.
The documentary will screen during the ReelWorld Film Festival at the Royal Ontario Museum on Oct. 16. Tickets and festival passes can be purchased at www.reelworld.ca.
The guild short-listed Nick Hector for Best Documentary Editing for his work on The Perfect Story, which will premiere at the Calgary International Film Festival before going on to the HotDocs festival in Toronto.
The film offers an intimate look at the ethical and moral challenges sparked by the relationship between a foreign correspondent and a young Somali refugee. By revealing the boundaries of journalism and filmmaking, the film questions what stories are told, why, and who gets to tell them.
The recognition points up the strength of the film faculty in the School of Creative Arts, says acting director Bruce Kotowich.
“Min Bae and Nick Hector are the only Canadian educators nominated for the 2022 Directors Guild of Canada Awards for feature films, documentaries, and short films,” he notes.