There remains only silence in a US military camp town in the northern part of Kyounggi province which will be pulled down any time soon. In the town, three women are still living with pains engraved in their bodies. Aunt Bobby who used to make burgers in Seonyu-ri for 30 years; Ms. PARK Insoon who used to collect scraps and draw paintings on them in the abandoned narrow alleys of Bbat-bul, Uijeongbu; and Ms. AHN Sungja who is half-Korean and half-African American. Following the pieces of their memories, the film starts “Tour of Duty” into the forgotten town to reveal the truth left behind.

After we (directors) had worked a series of documentaries dealing with the U.S. military town, mainly focusing on the lives of the protagonists in a relatively traditional “cinema-direct” way, our interest moved to the space itself of this decayed village. Initially, we intended to make a photo book about demolishing camp towns in terms of archive-based work. After our research, more than 30 old villages near the DMZ turned out to be U.S. military camp-towns in the past. However, it was not only the enormous scale of camp town areas was surprising, but also the fact that a historical reality that was once vividly alive, were totally forgotten struck us hard. The reluctant and uncomfortable responses of old villagers and their shy and shame comments of the past added a new dimension to this shabby place and its history. Thus, it was natural for us to imagine a ghost wandering around the ruins and empty alleys during our “Etat-des-lieux”: Especially, the recent death of two American-Koreans (Myeong-soo featured in PARK’s film and Jong-chul who was beaten dead in 2007), dominated our minds.
However, the space itself did not say anything. The space, after all, should meet therein human memory. Our initial plot about drifting dead orphans returning home before demolition was represented with three different figures. A long-term relationship allowed us to experiment and to see cinematic possibilities along with them. Three different ethical methods were chosen to reproduce each character. Hence, the space is psychologically emerged in their day-to-day lives and memory. is an homage to these women as survivors, as well as to the space, the witness of all time.

2012 제17회 부산국제영화제
2013 제15회 서울국제여성영화제
2013 제13회 야마가타국제다큐멘터리영화제
2013 제17회 체코 이흘라바국제다큐멘터리 영화제