Synopsis

Ноїв became Hikikomori because he was afraid of war. Ноїв's room is full of symbols of war, and he sees it and believes that war will happen soon. The courier, the landlord, and his girlfriend Наташа come to Ноїв and talk to him to get out.

Director's Comment

I always feel like I have a shadow of war behind my back since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. This is because the relationship between Russia and Ukraine before the war seemed very similar to that between North Korea and South Korea. Excessive immersion in war is dangerous. Our daily lives are still busy for a while, so we can miss this class. But can we completely exclude war and live? I am a citizen currently living in a ceasefire state, which suggests that it would not be strange for a war to break out at any time. An individual is powerless in an ambivalent situation. I thought about how to utilize this helplessness. The answer I gave to this was to produce the media and to express my political fear to the world. ‘Ноїв ковчег‘ means "the ark of noah" in Ukrainian. Ноїв defending himself in a room as if he were the last human being may seem ridiculous, but on the other hand, in a cease-fire state like ours, he may be the only one in a proper position. I don't want to choose either. Either I fully affirm or deny Ноїв. He just wanted to write down some unknown words and let them slip through the world. 'Nope' shows how a very fragile, even comical, helpless individual transforms a small room into a political space.

Staff

Producer/Scenario/Storyboard/Character/BG/Lay Out/Animation/Camera/Effect/Sound/Editing CHOI Hayoung

Voice CHOI Hayoung CHOI Hayoung, AN Yongryeol

Other KIM Naseul

Program Note

The fear of war has made the coward Ноїв into a “hikikomori” a person confined to his own home. But was it truly because of his fear of war, or was it a fear of having contact with the outside world? Ноїв’s legs become attached to the floor, setting down deep roots in the middle of the room. What is it that he truly fears? The feeling of classical Russian literature is combined with diverse scenes and images of Korean society. Ноїв is stateless and isolated by his own chaotic sense of space and time. His room appears as a satirical reflection of the fears and anxieties faced by young people today—unemployment, the housing crisis, isolated youths, divided nations and martial law, and the horrors of real-life war as seen in the Russia-Ukraine War.

MO Eunyoung