LA-based filmmaker JiHee Nam joins us to discuss how Korean traditions & Japanese terms influenced her animated CalArts short ‘Knife Hanging From a Tree’.

If you’re a regular at Director Notes, you’ll notice I don’t tend to write for the site much anymore – since going full time at Short of the Week most of my time is spent on running the editorial side of things there. Thankfully, the curation of the two sites is quite different, meaning when I do occasionally get to feature a film here on DN, it’s a short film I really wanted to champion (usually an experimental animation) but didn’t fit into the stricter “narrative-first” brief we have to selection over on SotW. This is definitely the case with today’s pick Knife Hanging From a Tree by JiHee Nam. A visually striking, narratively intriguing 3-minute animation, it’s unconventional approach to storytelling means it’s more of a challenging piece than more traditional narratives, but with that deviation comes a raw excitement I love so much in pieces like this. With a two word synopsis (see below) to describe its premise, I spoke to LA-based Director Nam about her distinct short and her general approach filmmaking.

The synopsis for the film simply reads “sour grapes”, I’m assuming this is left purposefully vague, but can you expand on the subjects/themes you were looking to explore in your film?

The original context is from the Korean traditional saying, which can be directly translated to, “Since I can’t eat the persimmon, let me stab it.” It’s a saying used to show one’s behavior when that person can’t achieve what they want. It’s similar to the English idiom, “sour grapes”, which I included to make it relatable to the general audience. Every time I come up with a synopsis, I find it better to have them really short and simple, and as you mentioned – vague.

Also, as a director and as a third person, who is observing the characters, it’s just really fascinating to see how relationships can be destroyed with a really tiny thing. Even though at one point, you think that the person is everything and a constant figure in your life, whether it be lovers, friends, family, etc.[…]

More: Premiere: Knife Hanging From a Tree by JiHee Nam // Animation