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World Fantastic Red

Firstborn

Aik KARAPETIAN

Latvia2017 90min Korean Premiere

Synopsis

A middle-aged intellectual commits an act of unintentional homicide. As time passes, he begins to see a link between the deceased, his wife's pregnancy, and the mysterious blackmailer who is forcing him to act against his will.

Program Note

A married couple, Katrina and Francis, are on their way home after a late night house party. They are confronted by a young man on a motorbike. The unknown man insults Katrina, hinting that he would rape her, then steals her bag. Afterward, the police do not have much progress in finding the unknown man due to the couple’s recollection of the event being different. Later the couple begins to feel anxiety that someone may invade their space. This film is a potential horror and psychological thriller. At the beginning of the film, a family wearing kabuki makeup puts on a performance that involves them attacking each other with swords. This was part of the house party Katrina and Francis attended. Even after the performance is revealed to just be a performance and not a real attack, the tension is not completely over for the audience. After that, the tension builds up when Katrina discusses her first unpleasant encounter with her husband to her friends. The atmosphere is changed when she said, “is it true or false?” Whether it is true or false remains unclear. It accumulates mysterious relationships that have not been resolved and weird energy to make the audience unable to relax until the end. (KIM So-hee)

Diretor

Aik KARAPETIAN

Born in 1983, Armenia, Aik Karapetian received his MA degree in film directing from the Latvian Academy of Culture, and went on to study at the Académie Internationale des Arts ESEC in Paris. His debut film, People Out There (2012), premiered in the Karlovy Vary Film Festival.