No, I Am Not a Toad, I Am a Turtle!

Overview

Elke Marhöfer's observational essay takes its title from a Korean Pansori song. One of three musical interludes performed in the film, this song tells the story of a turtle locked in a futile circle of evasion with a hungry tiger. Marhöfer's film is concerned with the formal attributes of Pansori music – its traditions of storytelling and the transmittance of an alternative knowledge. The film journeys through natural landscapes, small town streets, forested mountains and busy shipping channels as it looks at the divide between the traditional and the modern. Shot in 16mm, this measured and lyrical film is an exploration into the boundaries between humans, animals and things.