Flanked by the actress, Kim Yena, the Korean director Kim Kiduk gave a press conference yesterday to present his film Amen, which was screened in the Official Section. He explained how he had always felt restricted working within the traditional film industry as he always had to think about what the audience wanted: “I felt I wasn’t being sincere.”Amen had proved to be the radical change he had been looking for as he had shot it on an incredibly low budget. “I wanted to show that anyone can make a film.”

He said that the gas mask worn by the character who pursues Kim Ye-na throughout the film was not just an image of the fear of life but was also the result of his desire not to have a specific character playing this role. He also stressed that Amen wasn’t about suffering: it was about how through suffering the main female character is exposed to extreme situations that lead her to find answers to profound questions.