A film about the song that is sung by a professional singer at one's funeral in Korea. This is my artistic pursuit to capture a nation's cultural heritage, which is fast disappearing. The intention of this film is to interpret Sangyeo-Sori as a universal language and to dig into the margins of reality for the song in present-day Korea which is barely practiced.

I feel like it's a little too late to film this subject, but I still have some hope to witness a traditional funeral in which Sangyeo-Sori is performed. It was nearly four decades ago when I first heard the song and I yearn to hear it again. I also hope to see a funeral march once more.

Before the trip, I had asked many older people who might know about Sangyeo-Sori in Korea, if I could possibly find a person who had sung or currently is singing Sangyeo-Sori. But most answers I received from them were more or less the same: "I doubt it", or "you may not find anyone in these days because people don't tend to do traditional funeral anymore due to high cost and time consuming aspects, so they usually carry on funerals in the Western style at a hospital."
"Even if you are lucky and find one, he can no longer sing the Song because he is ill, too old to perform or already died" and they told me "you may find some old pictures and video footage instead".

A number of different versions of 'Sangyeo-Sori' were sung throughout the nation. But the specific Sangyeo-Sori that I remember is one that had been sung around the region of Chang Neoung. I have no intention to go in depth about Sangyeo-Sori, nor do I intend to look for all the different Sangyeo-Sori throughout Korea. The Sangyeo-Sori that I want to hear is the one I heard when I was small.

Chang Neoung is a typical farming region located in south-central Korea. It is a place with over 1,000 years of history. Chang Neoung proudly has over 136 rich cultural treasures, including temples, Buddha statues, and pagodas.

There are also tourist sites like a swamp, a hot spring, and a state parks. I lived and attended an elementary school at Chang Neoung until we moved to Seoul in the late 1970s.

Joon Sung is originally from Korea, currently based in Bowling Green, Kentucky, a multi-media artist with traditional art background and Associate Professor of Western Kentucky University.

Ever since he joined the graduate program at Syracuse University, Joon Sung has actively produced a number of time-based works, such as computer animations, videos and films.

Joon Sung’s work has been included in many exhibitions and festivals in the U.S. as well as Netherlands, Switzerland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Greece, Russia, Finland, and Germany.