Noise: Unwanted Sound

0.2 seconds after a sound reaches the cochlea, the brain assigns distance, direction and speed. With constant tinnitus, the director compares inner sounds with Somchai, a construction worker and fellow patient. Blending medical inquiry, soundscape and poetic reflection, she reveals how thin the line is between sound and noise — and whose voices are dismissed as such.

Jung Hyejin: ‘One day, without warning, I lost hearing in one ear. While still reeling, I met Thai migrant workers afflicted with the same condition. Seeing their bodies and hearing their stories, I realised my crisis was not mine alone — it was ours.

It was the story of my grandfather’s generation, who blamed themselves for workplace injuries. It was the story of those who demanded dignity, only to be cursed by a broken system. It is the story of a nation grown numb to the daily news of workers’ deaths. Words began to spill out of me; through the disorienting lens of my unbalanced senses, I wrote this story in equal parts anger and grief.’

— Excerpted from ‘Noise: Unwanted Sound, Director’s Note’, DMZ Docs Online Catalogue (2025)