Roaring Ashes, 2025

The ancient Greek word aporia (ἀπορία) signifies a state of puzzlement or contradiction, while the Hebrew word Sheol (שָׁאַל), a place where the dead are said to descend, originates from the verb meaning “to ask” or “to inquire.” Following my grandmother’s death, I began to revisit the events of the twentieth century that I had long been researching, this time by connecting them to my own family history. The questions traveled with me, tracing sea routes, and curiously, the places I visited all shared a common thread: they lay on opposite shores of historical beginnings and ends. From the northernmost tip of Hokkaido, I imagined Sakhalin; from Jeju Island, I envisioned Tsushima. Along the coastal journey, I recalled voices that never made it ashore—voices drowned in watery graves. This is lamentation—not only for one person. Before a sea filled with roars from all directions, I wait for voices that have yet to arrive.

Voice: English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian / Subtitle: Korean, English

Directed, written and edited by Yuri An / Drone Cinematography by Kwangpyo Heo / Narrated by Sakura Suzuki, Ichiro Sato, Daria Reels, Arty Grumson, Matthew Schmitz, Kwangpyo Heo, Soon-gyo Kim

Bio

Yuri An is interested in how the lives of individuals are defined and transformed by communities and nations amidst historical and political shackles. She listened to lost words and stories while exploring how past events are connected or collide with the present phenomena. She uses media that can move freely in space and time, such as text, video, and sound, and has been working on the “Korean Diaspora Project” since 2016.

https://yurian.kr