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"God's Eye View" is his first movie after an 18-year absence, during which he taught filmmaking at a university. Upon his return, he said he no longer saw movies as a means to gain fame and money, but to achieve loftier goals, and said he hopes the film will help break prejudice about Christianity in South Korea. "Rather than to believe it, I want people to understand Christianity," through the movie, he said denying his movie itself is trying to proselytize. The drama has been met by hundreds of invectives online even though it hasn't been released; the film is still seeking a distributor. Some commenters were critical of the former hostages held in Afghanistan and others say the movie whitewashes those events in the Saemmul volunteers' favor. Lee said organizers of the Busan International Film Festival, where it premiered this month, expressed worries about showing the movie during the festival. Programmer Nam Dong-chul, who saw the movie and selected it for inclusion at Busan, said "God's Eye View" could appeal to audiences even if they were not Christian. "It is very religiously charged movie, but it raises very unique questions," Nam said. "It questions what it means to be a martyr." Protestantism is the second-most popular religion in South Korea after Buddhism with some 9 million protestants among nearly 50 million populations. South Korea has the second-largest missionaries after the U.S. and many of them work in China to help North Korean refuges.
[Associated
Press;
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