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Korea Herald
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Interview: Jerome Yoo's dreamlike vision
Korean Canadian director explores diasporic identity through bold, surrealist lens Jerome Yoo bends precisely at 90 degrees, utters a greeting of "annyeong haseyo," then straightens up with a mischievous grin. Dressed in matching blue denim with a statement watch glinting on his wrist, he looks more like a college student on cultural exchange than a filmmaker on the festival circuit. A promising voice in Canadian independent cinema for some time, the 31-year-old's artistic footprint extends well beyond his casual appearance. "Mongrels," Yoo's feature debut, had already collected significant accolades — winning at the Vancouver International Film Festival in British Columbia and securing the International Film Critics Prize at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia — before arriving at the Jeonju International Film Festival in North Jeolla Province for the film's Korean premiere. "I still feel this deep sense of loneliness that I can't quite explain," Yoo says of his current stint in Korea, speaking with The Korea Herald at a cafe in Jeonju. He has relocated temporarily to Korea to direct commercials for corporate giants Naver and Hyundai, all the while developing a script for his next project under CJ ENM's mentorship program. "I get along with people and have friends here, but there's still this division between me and them. Maybe it's morals, ethics or something else. I just feel a misalignment sometimes — me wanting to fit in but not being perfectly acceptable." That sense of cultural liminality finds expression in "Mongrels," a triptych narrative chronicling a Korean immigrant family's settlement in rural British Columbia during the 1990s. The film follows widowed father Sonny Lee (Kim Jae-Hyun), who relocates with his teenage son Ha-joon (Nam Da-nu) and young daughter Ha-na (Jin Se-in) after being recruited to exterminate feral dogs threatening local livestock. Yoo, who left South Korea at 1 year old and grew up in Vancouver, structures the film as three distinct chapters, each focusing on a different family member. "I was inspired by 'Moonlight,'" he says, referring to Barry Jenkins' 2016 Oscar-winning coming-of-age story of a Black gay man. "Barry Jenkins explores a single character through three different phases of life. In that same way, I thought the immigration experience through different perspectives, through different generations, can be so vastly unique. I wanted each character to have a voice, an experience and show that not all immigrant experiences are the same." The film's visual architecture evolves through its three movements. The first chapter's claustrophobic 4:3 aspect ratio visualizes Sonny's constrained worldview, while the second section expands both the frame and emotional palette as Ha-joon branches out to build connections with friends. By the final segment, Yoo employs a fully panoramic 16:9 widescreen frame filled with dreamlike imagery — a visual counterpoint to the earlier austerity. "Ha-na lives in this world of childlike wonder," Yoo explains. "She doesn't fully comprehend the underlying intentions of the adult world. In some ways, she's living within a dream. I tried to heighten all her emotions — that's why things like the hair-dye scene seem so grotesque and absurd. Her coping mechanism exists within a fairy tale, which I slowly shatter as this child starts to understand life." The film's most distinctive element is its central motif: the recurring image of wild dogs, which looms large as an ever-present existential threat to the community. Their howls pierce the night with ominous portent and create an almost postapocalyptic atmosphere within the film's period setting. Operating with a distinctly Kafkaesque sensibility, this conceit opens up rich allegorical possibilities for the film at large — about outsiders, about survival, about race relations and history — by dint of its sheer outlandishness. "The dogs parallel the family," Yoo says. "They mirror outsiders, the misunderstood, immigrants just trying to find their way, trying to survive in unfamiliar lands. It's a dog-eat-dog world — that phrase was big in my mind while working on this. Even amongst immigrants, it's survival of the fittest." The metaphor carries additional weight through historical stereotypes. "I have this complicated feeling growing up in Canada where I was sometimes teased with the stereotype of Koreans eating dogs," Yoo adds. "When I heard this as an elementary student, it left a deep impression." Casting choices provide essential authenticity to Yoo's vision. The director bypassed Canada's Korean diaspora actors, seeking performers directly from Korea instead. "I knew that if I wanted to make it authentic, I needed actors who feel less comfortable in English," he explains. This search led him to Kim Jae-hyun, who had left acting behind many years back and now lives essentially off the grid in rural Ulsan. "He didn't have a phone at the time, so we had to track him down through connections," Yoo says. "When I saw his photo, I knew immediately he was who I needed." For the daughter Ha-na, Yoo cast first-time actor Jin Se-in, whose father had actually applied for the role of Sonny. "When we placed the camera in front of Se-in, I saw she has one of the most soulful looks — this face where you can project whatever emotion you want." Another stylistic hallmark of the film manifests through ritual and folkloric iconography, which Yoo weaves extensively throughout the narrative. The director explains how he drew from childhood memories to create moments where Korean folk traditions punctuate the otherwise foreign setting. "My grandmother would burn things in the house, put talismans on the front door to keep spirits away," he recalls. "Before we'd go hiking up a Canadian mountain, she'd say there's a Korean mountain spirit in this Canadian mountain." As "Mongrels" screens for Korean audiences, a palpable nervousness washes over Yoo. "The Korean audience is the one I fear the most," he says. "I grew up abroad with very limited visits to Korea. It's this feeling of knowing I am Korean and wanting to be accepted." Still, that vulnerability hardly seems to dampen his bold instincts as a filmmaker. "With 'Mongrels,' I was fortunate that no one was telling me what to do. I just wanted to throw s--- at the wall and see how it works," he says. "There's one sequence where we cut to this weird scene of dogs in the forest. My editor wanted to just stay on the character, but I wanted to take risks." For all the boundary-pushing, Yoo remains fixed on one thing: that his wild impulses and creative risks still speak to something honest—and human. "I hope that despite the surrealism, viewers find something in their gut they can relate to," he reflects. "If anything, I hope they accept these characters as people they might recognize in their own lives."
Daily Mirror
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Hollyoaks Clare Devine star Gemma Bissix's life off-screen 12 years after shock death
Gemma Bissix is reportedly set to make a sensational return to Hollyoaks as bad girl Clare Devine 12 years after her character was killed off by Channel 4 soap bosses Hollyoaks star Gemma Bissix is reportedly making a comeback to the Channel 4 soap as Clare Devine, 12 years after her character was killed off. Reports suggest that the actress has agreed to return to her iconic role and could be back on our screens as early as next month despite famously being run over by Doctor Browning's car in 2013. Clare appeared to die instantly, but her scheming sister Grace Black (played by Tamara Black) was soon introduced to carry on the family legacy. As speculation mounts about how Clare will be resurrected and return to the village, let's take a look at Gemma's life. Gemma first graced our screens in EastEnders as Clare Bates when she was just nine years old in 1993, staying with the soap until 1998. After leaving EastEnders, Gemma took a break from acting. Post-school, she ran a pub for two years, worked for her father's electrical wholesalers and even measured bras at Marks and Spencer. Despite this, her passion for acting remained, and she continued to audition for roles. In 2000, she guest-starred in Doctor Who and in 2002, she appeared as Roxanne Lloyd in the BBC medical soap Doctors, reports OK!. She later switched to rival soap Hollyoaks in 2006, taking on the role of Clare Devine for a two-year stint. The actress would return to the Channel 4 show twice - first in 2009 and then again in 2013 for a brief comeback. Gemma has also had minor roles in other popular TV series such as Doctor Who, where she portrayed a young woman possessed by an evil alien entity, as well as Mongrels and The Crust. She's graced the stage in a number of pantomimes, including Snow White, Aladdin and Cinderella. In 2009, she ventured into reality TV, competing in Dancing On Ice. However, her time on the show was short-lived, as she became the second contestant to be eliminated after failing to win over either the judges or the viewers. Off-screen, Gemma leads a happy life with her husband Kristian Rouse and their two children. The couple met in 2008 and dated for seven years before getting engaged in 2015. They exchanged vows in July 2018, and have since welcomed daughters - Juliette and Vienna. Gemma is devoted to raising her two girls and often shares sweet family photos on her social media accounts.
