Former Korean Film Council Chair Park Ki-yong Returns to Directing With ‘Ghost Island’ at JAFF Future Project

Park Ki-yong, who stepped down as chair of the Korean Film Council (KOFIC) last year and directed “Motel Cactus,” which won the New Currents Award at the 1998 Busan International Film Festival, has a new project selected for the JAFF Future Project with “Ghost Island,” a supernatural thriller about parallel Cold War massacres in Korea and Indonesia.

The South Korea-Malaysia-Indonesia co-production, directed and produced by Park alongside Malaysian producer Ho Yuhang through production company Paperheart Sdn Bhd, is among 10 Asia-Pacific titles selected for the JAFF Future Project at this year’s JAFF Market in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

“Ghost Island” follows Ayu, an Indonesian woman who arrives on snow-covered Jeju Island to search for her missing husband Herman, who vanished during their honeymoon. She partners with Inho, a Korean ex-marine turned investigator, as their search leads them through motels, ferry terminals and labor agencies. Herman appears in CCTV footage, yet remains blurred and indistinct, as if the camera itself cannot capture him.

When Inho’s grandmother relives the Jeju 4.3 massacre during a shaman ritual, Ayu feels a chilling connection between Herman’s disappearance and the island’s suppressed violence. Returning to Bali, she discovers Herman left no evidence of existence — no school records, no real family. A fortune-teller confirms her deepest fear: Herman died many years ago.

The devastating truth emerges: Ayu’s grandfather commanded a military garrison during the 1965-66 Bali mass killings and betrayed Herman’s village. Herman, a seven-year-old victim whose spirit has lingered for decades, seeks a descendant of the perpetrators who will finally witness the truth. Guided by shamans and fragmented memories, Ayu travels to a hidden cave where Herman’s village was slaughtered, kneeling before bones and children’s bracelets tangled in dust.

“My interest in the Jeju April 3rd Massacre started many years ago, when discussing it was still discouraged,” Park says. “Later, I learned about the mass executions of civilians in Indonesia during 1965–66, especially in Bali. I was deeply moved by how two islands, now renowned as idyllic paradises, share nearly identical histories of violence — yet perceive and interpret it in vastly different ways.”

What moved Park most was the contrast in how memories are honored. “Jeju’s wounds have finally begun to be recognized, studied, and mourned. Bali’s remain largely unspoken, hidden in fear, denial, and inherited silence,” he says. “‘Ghost Island’ emerged from that silence. I wanted to listen to what history tried to erase, and to craft a story where the unseen and the unspoken could finally surface — through love, through memory, and through the courage to witness what others felt compelled to forget.”

“‘Ghost Island’ examines the persistence of memory and the unseen link between two haunted islands with parallel histories — Jeju in 1948 and Bali in 1965,” Park adds. “Both are idyllic landscapes scarred by state violence and silence. The film becomes a spiritual detective story where history itself is the ghost.”
“The film is neither a traditional horror nor a historical drama,” he says. “It is a work of poetic realism, where landscapes evoke memories, technology uncovers remembrance, and the dead seek acknowledgment rather than revenge.”

The producers emphasized the project’s global significance. “The story explores two of Asia’s most silenced historical traumas — the Jeju 4.3 massacre and the 1965–66 Bali killings — without sensationalizing them,” Park and Ho say. “Instead, it turns hidden histories into a deeply human mystery about love, memory, and responsibility.”

At JAFF Market, the team hopes to establish the project’s identity and secure meaningful partnerships. “By debuting at JAFF, we emphasize that ‘Ghost Island’ is rooted in Asian history, culture, and cross-border storytelling,” the filmmakers say. “Our goal is to connect with partners who can enhance the project — creatively, culturally, and financially — and who share our vision of a film that honors these histories while resonating with global audiences.”

Park served as chair of the Korean Film Council from January 2022 until stepping down last year. He previously directed “Motel Cactus,” co-scripted with Bong Joon Ho, which won the New Currents Award at the 1998 Busan International Film Festival, and “Camel(s),” which won the Regard d’Or at the 2002 Fribourg International Film Festival.

JAFF Future Project functions as both a development platform and co-production hub, designed to advance independent works toward completion and distribution. The initiative runs Nov. 29-Dec. 1 at the Jogja Expo Center in Yogyakarta as part of the broader 20th-anniversary celebration of the Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival.