Dream Preserved

Dreams are kept closed behind the fridge door.

{deam} preserved, New Zealand, 2005

Writer/director/editor: Stephen Kang
Assistant directors: Hyeim Lee, Anthony Kang
Director of photography: KWK
Art director: Jungmin Kim
Storyboard artist: Hanna Lee
Original music: Minkyu Park

With: Andrew Han (Mark), Hanna Lee (Jenny), Sean Han (Restaurant co-worker), Jung a Cha (Restaurant owner lady), David Tan (Flat talker), Ikmo Koo (Flat new guy), Jungwoon Sui (Immigration office talker), Hagkoo Lee (Travel agency guy), Wonsuk Jang (Guy asking favor), Jeasung Kim (Coffee Girl’s boyfriend)

DV, M-offensive language, 83 minutes

Awards: Air New Zealand Screen Awards, Best Digital Feature 2006; Overseas Koreans’ Independent Film Competition 2006 (Winner); digiSPAA, the Screen Producers Association Australia 2006 (Runner-up)

Mark is working at a Korean restaurant, and like other working visa holders he works hard to stay in New Zealand. Also like other working visa holders he has a second job. However, his job is little out of the ordinary. He lines up in the queue for the people who have to wait in the long queue at the immigration office. At the end of the day Mark is just another hard working Asian guy heading for his small all flat shared with five strangers, but to sleep in his Fridge.

His fridge is his only comforting space, here he dreams of one day getting out of his routine life and travelling around New Zealand, which he had never done before. Even just for seeing the farm animals that he has never seen. However his visa expires and he hides in his fridge, paranoid at being caught, which will destroy his dream.

In this routine life he frequently comes across an Asian girl selling coffee to the jaded people endlessly waiting in the queue at the immigration office. This energetic Asian girl, who appears to be about the same age as Mark, seems to have an unusual second job as well. She often receives money from strange guys and quickly disappears with them.

Mark’s luck hits rock bottom when he’s kicked out of his flat and, with his Fridge, is forced to live in the city in a nearby park. When a strange guy tries to locate Mark he panics and runs. He decides to make contact with the Coffee Girl but is physically threatened by illegal-visa-traders who appear from nowhere.

Mark decides to runaway but is unable to think of a way out of the city until he again comes across the Coffee Girl who offers to help him escape in her boyfriend’s station wagon.

Coffee Girl, Mark and his Fridge all set off South on a one-way trip of liberation, even foreseeing the destruction of the fridge. The road-movie-like scene comes to an abrupt end with a threatening call from Coffee Girl’s boyfriend. She gives up on the chance of escape but still offers to drop Mark at his desired location.

They reach a dead-end suburban motel and Coffee Girl is stuck with Mark little and share their ordeals. We don’t know where either of them are headed but Mark dreams of being in other places when he opens the fridge door. Will their dreams stay preserved long enough?

Screenings: {dream} preserved screened on 29 August 2007 as part of the Desktop Cinema: 8 recent NZ digital features season.