Yobi: the Five Tailed Fox

Sung-kang Lee
South Korea
2007

I wanted to become human but I didn’t mean to take your soul... - Yobi

85", 35mm
Color, Korean with English subtitles

about the film

Yobi is one of the fabled nine-tailed foxes, magical animals that have a reputation as shapechangers which can live to be a thousand years old. However, Yobi is only a hundred, which means she's like a ten-year-old girl and only has five tails yet. Abandoned as a small child, she's been raised by a group of stranded aliens who have been trying for decades to repair their crashed spaceship, hiding away from humans in the mountains. After a test flight fails, one of the aliens gets found by students from a "school for dysfunctional children" who keep him as a pet. Yobi infiltrates the school disguised as a student to rescue the alien but she quickly finds out that she really likes being human, making friends with the other students. This creates a complicated situation, because for Yobi to become a human permanently she must first steal the soul of another human. A sweet and wise take on adolescence and coming to terms with who you really are, Yobi, the Five Tailed Fox is a fabulous mix of sci-fi, myth and magic that has earned director Lee comparisons to Japanese animation legend Hayao Miyazaki. As a character, Yobi is a brilliantly created larger-than-life heroine who you will root for from start to finish.

about the director

Winner of the Grand Prix at the Annecy Internatıonal Animation Festival for My Beautiful Girl, Mari (2002), Sung-kang Lee quickly became a globally recognized director. Yobi, the Five Tailed Fox is his second feature animation film.

awards

2007 London Film Festival

screenings

February 16 Saturday, 1:00 PM AFM Budak Caddebostan

February 23 Saturday, 11:30 AM AFM Fitaş Beyoğlu 7

February 24 Sunday, 3:30 PM AFM İstinye Park

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