Director | Okjaa

Director - Bong Joon Ho

Bong Joon Ho is the director of Okja, and the film is true to his style. Like some of his previous films, such as The Host (2006), Snowpiercer (2013), or even his most recent film Parasite (2019), Okja seeks to speak on social themes such as capitalism, class, and oppressive systems.

In the film, Bong Joon Ho explores these ideas through the lens of the animal agriculture business, ran by the fictional Mirando Corporation.

“Director Bong Joon-ho turned vegan after visiting a slaughterhouse before making ‘Okja,’ but it lasted only two months. ‘I live in South Korea,’ he said. ‘Korea is BBQ paradise.’” (from LA Times article)

“One day I was driving and it was a very foggy, grey day in Seoul. And I saw a huge pig (a size of a house) looking very depressed under a freeway. I was not under any substances—sometimes I have these visions. I was very captivated by that image. Okja began with my obsession with this one image. I kept wondering why the pig was so big. And then I thought of the food industry’s cruel perspective on animals, where they view these creatures not as living things but as food products. For them, the size is directly tied to product value.”

- Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2020.

(from the Okja slides - https://youtu.be/oUTdavcpWro?t=80) - with translator Sharon Choi