Oscar® Nominated Documentaries: In the Absence
The best for last: a detailed account of the bureaucratic idiocy surrounding the sinking of the Sewol Ferry, a disaster that led to the loss of hundreds of students en route to a school trip to Jeju Island. As presented, the South Korean government is less concerned with passenger safety and more worried about setting up a live video feed on which to base their official report. Communication being what it is — and with only the tip of the bow bobbing out of the water —Coast Guard HQ suggests performing a room-by-room search of the cabins, followed by an orderly evacuation. We watch with helpless outrage as air is pumped into the ship, an attempt at staging a successful operation to impress their clueless President. Within minutes, the murky water has swallowed the ship whole. Director Seung-jun Yi combines aerial photography, cellphone imagery, and rescue footage for a short film that ranks high in the pantheon of cinematic frustration. — Scott Marks