Sapphire

Calligraphy by Kim ki Duk

Kim Ki-duk (December 20, 1960 - December 11, 2020) was a South Korean filmmaker who had once dreamed of becoming a priest. He spent two years at the monastery, then lived in Paris from 1990 to 1992, earning a living by selling his paintings. In 1996, after returning to Korea, he directed his first feature film, "Crocodile," which marked the beginning of his unique and intense career as a director.

In the spring of 2018, I received a photo of him with his film crew for the film "青玉" / Sapphire that he was producing near a lake in Yunnan, China. This film remained unfinished since his death. We met in the summer of 2017 in Paris and stayed in touch for a year by phone, sporadically sharing various documents. Among them were these six calligraphy drawings that he made for the film “青玉”/Sapphire, which we present here in this special edition. There is an intimate and unpublished character to this publication, as these calligraphies have never been made public before.

The title of this book: 청옥（青玉：qīng yù) is a type of tremolite jade that appears gray-green and/or black-green. In Korean, it means "Sapphire." "青玉" does not refer to the gem itself, but to a color, which is a kind of blue.

A 10-page book printed, 13 x 21 cm, with a translucent paper cover and color printing.