'The speaker of this documentary is Sulli': Director remembers late idol at BIFF

“I felt more hurt than anything while filing the lawsuit — rather than feeling good or angry or anything like that,” the late singer Sulli said in an old interview, shown in the documentary “Persona: Sulli” that was screened at BIFF on Oct. 7.

A scene from the documentary ″Persona: Sulli,″ a film about the late singer and actor Sulli [BUSAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL]

“I felt more hurt than anything while filing the lawsuit — rather than feeling good or angry or anything like that,” the late singer Sulli said in an old interview, shown in the documentary “Persona: Sulli” that was screened at the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) on Oct. 7.

Sulli was referring to the lawsuit she had filed against malicious commenters online. “The police had found the people and they told me that the commenters said they felt sorry about what they did, but I was still hurt no matter how much of an apology I received at the time.”

When asked in the interview why she had let the malicious commenters off the hook without going through with the lawsuit, Sulli paused for minutes, thinking it through herself. Then she eventually began sobbing. Many in the audience at the screening also shed tears.

“Persona: Sulli,” the documentary containing the last recorded interview with the late soloist and former girl group f(x) member, was shown for the first time at CGV Centum City in Haeundae District, eastern Busan, as part of the 28th BIFF, which ended Friday. The documentary was screened as part of the Wide Angle section’s documentary showcase. All three screenings of “Persona: Sulli” sold out as soon as ticket sales opened.

A scene from the documentary ″Persona: Sulli,″ a film about the late singer and actor Sulli [BUSAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL]

Sulli, whose real name was Choi Jin-ri, debuted as a child actress as a supporting cast member on the SBS historical drama “Ballad of Seodong” in 2005 before entering the music industry as a member of f(x) in 2009. She continued her acting career after leaving the group in 2015, and died by suicide at the age of 25 on Oct. 14, 2019.

“Persona: Sulli,” which was originally planned to be released on Netflix as a five-part series, had its production halted due to Sulli’s death during filming. Mystic Story, the production company that was making “Persona: Sulli” after having made “Persona: IU” about the singer IU, produced this separate documentary using interview footage that was meant to be part of the original series, now four years after the singer’s death. The producers are currently in talks on whether to stream the documentary on Netflix.

“I don’t think many think of the fact that celebrities are also people,” Sulli said in the interview. “When I started working in the entertainment industry, the saying I heard most was, ‘You are a product, and you have to exist as the best product for consumers.’"

In “Persona: Sulli,” the late singer, wearing a white shirt and jeans, seriously answers questions regarding the hardships of life as a K-pop idol, the backlash following her declaration of being a feminist, and her tolerance of malicious comments left about her on the internet. Although she ponders for long moments before answering the questions, Sulli does not avoid answering tough questions, and not even the last three minutes of the interview pass by without substance.

Director Jung Yoon-suk, right, speaks at a press conference before the first screening of ″Persona: Sulli″ at CGV Centum City in Haeundae District, eastern Busan, on Oct. 7. [BUSAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL]

“Persona: Sulli” captures her moments of silence and worry. Clips of the character Dorothy from “The Wizard of Oz” are also used in the film.

“Dorothy” is a song included in Sulli’s solo album that was released four months before her death. In the song, which Sulli wrote herself, she speaks of Dorothy through jealousy, love, truth, splendor, cowardice and the desert and icebergs, metaphorically, and talks about dreams and the future.

“Sulli had big dreams as an actor, so I am grateful that we were able to show ‘Persona: Sulli’ here at BIFF,” director Jung Yoon-suk said during a press conference for the documentary held before its first screening. Jung made films such as “Non-fiction Diary” (2013), about serial killers, and the documentary “Bamseom Pirates Seoul Inferno” (2017), for which he received the grand prize at the Wild Flower Film Awards that year. In 2020, Jung was selected as the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art’s Artist of the Year and exhibited videos of sex doll factories.

The following are edited excerpts of an interview with Jung.

Q. Why did you choose a different method for “Persona: Sulli” compared to your previous work, including “Bamseom Pirates Seoul Inferno”? A. This is why I didn’t want to receive questions from the audience today — I couldn’t sleep very well last night. When I make a film, I always try to make my thoughts center around the main character, respecting the protagonist’s life while not crossing any lines. Park Jeong-geun of “Bamseom Pirates Seoul Inferno” was indicted under the National Security Act and it took five years for him to be found not guilty at the Supreme Court. If I had known that that would happen, I would not have filmed that documentary. We built up trust while I carried around a camera throughout the court processes for five years. The same goes for Sulli. When filming, I was at eye level with the protagonist.

Director Jung Yoon-suk, right, speaks at a press conference before the first screening of ″Persona: Sulli″ at CGV Centum City in Haeundae District, eastern Busan, on Oct. 7. [BUSAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL]

Do you have a method as a director to bring out stories from the main character — in this case, Sulli? Even in talk shows, where people interrupt each other to try and get more air time for themselves, Sulli always listened very carefully to everyone. She also tried to accept my position as much as possible rather than making demands. Sulli was a person who always knew how to distinguish between kindness and consideration. I thought of her as a person who had the self-consciousness of an artist, not just as a celebrity or an idol. I prepared the questions during the interviews with 14-years’ worth of articles on Sulli, since she debuted at age 13, and waited for her to respond to the questions, taking care not to interrupt the silence as she considered the answers.

This is a film that was changed from its original plan. Since she passed away, she could neither agree nor disagree to the film — what did you pay the most attention to? We received legal advice from two human rights lawyers and also had the film reviewed by a psychiatrist specializing in adolescents. We placed emphasis on protecting the bereaved family and honoring the deceased. Sulli filmed the interviews with the principle of disclosure. The content of the interviews could be the story of a mother and daughter, and also raised important topics for our society such as women’s rights, the weak in our society and equality. This film is not only a movie about the main character and protagonist Sulli, but also a film about the many others like her in this country — this is also what we told Sulli’s mother. Is there anything else that will be revealed, apart from the original video that was supposed to be released on Netflix? The film is based on the interviews we conducted and the footage of the deceased’s records, belongings and home that we filmed with the content of the bereaved family. And we made the song “Dorothy” into an animation. The most important thing is that the speaker of this documentary is Sulli.

BY KWON GEUN-YOUNG [kjdculture@joongang.co.kr]