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Report: Korean Director Zooms In On German Heavy Metal Village

April 12, 2007

Jurnalo.com reports: The cultural divide between villagers in north Germany and the heavy metal fans who descend on their quiet community could hardly be greater. Prim cotton blouses, Wellington boots and double-breasted suits contrast with studded collars, tattoos and shoulder-length hair. The Wacken Open Air line-up of bands says it all: CANNIBAL CORPSE, GRAVE DIGGER, RAISE HELL, DEATH ANGEL, SODOM.

Wacken has become a place of pilgrimage for 40,000 heavy metal fans who gather in the Schleswig-Holstein village each year for an orgy of hand-banging and ear-splitting music.

And the locals are proud that their sleepy community of 1,800 has become a spiritual centre of the heavy metal world even though the festival shatters the peace and tranquillity of their daily life.

This is the atmosphere that South Korean director Sung-Hyung Cho tries to capture in her debut feature-length film "Full Metal Village" that is due to open in German cinemas next week.

The 90-minute documentary describes the amiable clash between the cultures and how the festival has become a fixture in the rural community since it was launched 17 years ago.

The way people from different cultures approach each other has been a topic of major interest to the Busan-born director ever since she came to to Germany as a student in 1989.

"I wasn't always happy to be here in Germany. I had my problems with Germans. I couldn't understand why they were so uptight. People in Wacken are different. It's through them I learned to love the country I live in," says the 40-year-old.

Read the entire article at Jurnalo.com.

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