‘Planet A’: Filming for freedom with Korean animal rights activist Haru Lev
Recording the film led Haru Lev to have a small crisis of conscience. He recalls: 'When I was filming the factory farm scenes, I was worried about how desensitized I was. I felt like I was becoming a psychopath or that I was overexposed to cruelty and becoming numb. When I edited the videos, though, seeing the footage over and over again, you see their eyes, you notice the same animals, and I felt deep grief again. It's a weird feeling to edit footage of animals who are already dead. I just hope it becomes a powerful video that can change people's habits.'
JAMIE FINN: Haru Lev is an activist. It is through this lens, the lens of counter-culturalism and of protest, that we can best understand his work. The movies that Haru has produced all attempt to communicate his worldview… Haru Lev’s latest project, Planet A: OST, is a compilation album featuring the work of performers who share a passion for animal rights. Each track acts as a protest in favour of better treatment of animals and argues for a vegan lifestyle. The album came out November 1st, and a few months later, an omnibus of short films (one for each track) was released.
Most of the acts featured on Planet A are vegan, but Lev tells us that this wasn’t a prerequisite for being included. “I tried to work with mostly vegan artists, but that wasn’t essential,” Haru tells us. “They don’t have to be vegan to talk about the issues on the album, but I prefer it if they are. I think it’s more powerful to have a group of vegans speaking together.”
He’s right. Not only does having performers concerned with animal rights work together on the album add weight to the message, but it does help to promote the cause of veganism in a country that isn’t always accepting of it. “Being a vegan in Korea isn’t always easy. It was important for me to show there were bands and musicians here who want to reject a violent industry. I wanted to work with activists who take a stand.”
The album features some amazing artists such as Billy Carter, Dead Buttons, Fat Hamster, Hucklberryfinn and Haru himself, who appears on several tracks. It’s an incredible listen with a broad range of styles and aesthetics that still sound connected to each other. But which song is Haru most excited for people to hear? “I am really excited for people to hear my song,” he laughs. “It’s called Animal Disqualification, and it’s a direct criticism of humanity and its treatment of non-human animals.”
The video that accompanies Animal Disqualification will be a short documentary piece about the factory farming industry in Korea. Haru’s previous work has dealt with factory farming but only abroad. Recording the footage for Last Night led Haru to have a small crisis of conscience. “When I was filming the factory farm scenes,” he recalls, “I was surprised by how OK I felt. I was actually kind of worried about how desensitised I was. I felt like I was becoming a psychopath or that I was overexposed to cruelty and becoming numb.” This is something many vegans go through at times when their passion for the cause is less palpable. “When I edited the videos, though, seeing the footage over and over again, you see their eyes, you notice the same animals, and I felt deep grief again. It’s a weird feeling to edit footage of animals who are already dead. I just hope it becomes a powerful video that can change people’s habits.”
Haru believes that it is vital to overcome these kinds of challenges and spread awareness of the things that you believe in. Awareness is an integral part of what Haru does. The idea is to inform and educate people who may not be aware of how animals are treated. This is true of every country, but especially true of Korea, where there is a certain amount of denialism about the treatment animals receive. “We don’t have much footage of factory farms here in Korea. Movies like Dominion (2018) show factory farming in other countries. People here watch that, and it’s too easy for them to distance themselves from it and dismiss it. They say, “Oh, that’s just those countries; we wouldn’t do something like that here.” For Planet A, I managed to film some factory farms in Korea and can hopefully show people here the reality.”
In Korea, veganism has become somewhat of a trend. An increasing number of people are identifying themselves as vegan or expressing an interest in a vegan lifestyle. When asked about how much things have changed, Haru isn’t sure. “It’s hard for me to say how much things have changed,” he says, “because I live in a vegan-queer-feminist bubble, so it feels like things have changed a lot, but I don’t know for sure. I do think things are getting better, though.”
Despite a growing awareness of veganism, there are still some areas where knowledge needs to be improved. One example of this is the juxtaposition between how common eating meat is and the extent the meat industry goes to block any exposure of their practices. People who work in the Korean meat industry are incredibly guarded about letting people see how they operate. This is especially true when compared to other countries. “I was travelling in Taiwan, and I visited some farms.” Haru has visited many different countries, both as an activist and a traveller. “In Taiwan, they didn’t try to hide it. Even the battery farming cages were out in the open. It was easy to film, and the farmers won’t stop you. People there think that is normal and “yeah, this is how animals should be treated”.” It’s different in Korea, though; “Here, the farm industry stops us from seeing. They think people here will be disturbed. It shows that they know they are doing something wrong. I really believe, or at least I hope, that if people here see what it’s like, they wouldn’t want to participate in the injustice. That’s what I want to do with my movies, to make a connection between our unconscious behaviours and their consequences”. SOURCE…
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