The Ulsan Ulju Mountain Film Festival (UMFF) has been commissioning four short documentaries annually since 2018 under the banner UMFFmentary. Each year, the UMFF selects production proposals from filmmakers who, under the guidance of veteran documentary directors, create short documentaries capturing diverse stories from Ulsan City. These films premiere at the festival before traveling to other film festivals.
As a festival deeply connected to its region, UMFF is dedicated to community engagement and to introducing mountain cinema and cultural diversity to local audiences. This year at FFD, four UMFFmentary shorts present fresh perspectives on life in Ulsan from emerging filmmakers.
Director Yu So-young’s Water Celery exemplifies the observational documentary form, following Lee Jung-ae, who has devoted her life to cultivating water dropwort and vending it from a street stall. Another work, The Time of Yeast, centers on “nuruk” (a fermentation starter essential to makgeolli production), which demands time-intensive cultivation of nuruk mold. This documentary seamlessly weaves together the lives of local artisans who craft it with the director’s own creative journey.
The subsequent film, Welcome to New World, traces the start and current trajectories of cultural producers working in Ulsan. Functioning simultaneously as both an autobiographical meditation on life as a screening programmer and a self-affirming work, this documentary could resonate particularly with cultural organizers beyond Yogyakarta throughout Indonesia’s diverse regions.
Finally, Ulsan Vulture, this year’s production by a husband-and-wife directorial team, is a short documentary featuring young steppe vultures from Mongolia that migrate to Ulsan annually. The film is structured around the various individuals who safeguard, observe, and advocate for these majestic creatures.
Though all debut works, FFD presents these films with conviction for their technical accomplishment, craftsmanship, and the authentic documentary ethos they embody.
–Jinna Lee
