Kumu Documentary: Nam June Paik: Moon is the Oldest TV
Location: Kumu auditorium
Dir Amanda Kim
USA 2023, 107 min
In English, German and Korean, with English subtitles
The film night will be introduced by the critic, art historian and artist Raivo Kelomees
Amanda Kim’s feature documentary debut is as sprightly as the man whose life she follows: Nam June Paik, the Korean-born but mostly US-based avant garde-ist who would become known as the “father of video art”. For most of his life, this most modern of modern artists lived like a pauper despite coming from one of the richest families in post-War Korea. Given the convention-defying ways of Paik and his friends – John Cage, Joseph Beuys, Allen Ginsberg, Charlotte Moorman et al – Moon Is The Oldest TV (the title comes from one of Paik’s shows, and is explained in a charming post-credit sequence with Marina Abramovic) feels oddly nostalgic for a better time, ruled by the rule breakers of society. There’s an innocence here, and an enigmatic genius at play, which should guarantee that the film has wide festival play following its debut at Sundance.
