People from more than 190 countries will get to know more about iconic K-pop girl group BLACKPINK as Netflix releases today, Oct. 14, its original documentary “BLACKPINK: Light Up the Sky.”
Directed by Caroline Suh, the documentary will focus on the K-pop quartet’s journey from their trainee days to their rise to stardom including performing at Coachella last year, becoming the first K-pop group to do so. Suh went to South Korea twice, one in 2019 and another this year, for the documentary.
BLACKPINK debuted in 2016 and in just four years, they have emerged as the top K-pop girl group, topping music charts, getting billions of views for their videos and winning awards.
During a virtual press conference on Oct. 13 on YouTube for the documentary, Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa, and director Suh talked about making the film and impressions.
“It’s such an honor to air our documentary on Netflix,” said Rosé.
Jennie said, “We always think about ways to go closer to the fans and to the public and when we worked with Director Suh, we thought that we found the right person. We are really looking forward to the release of the documentary.”
Netflix has previously released documentaries on Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga and Beyonce and Jisoo said “it’s an honor to be in line with the global female artists such as Taylor Swift, and Beyonce and Lady Gaga. The four of us have come a long way and we will continue to work hard to show more of us to our fans.”
The documentary will also show never before seen video footage of BLACKPINK.
“We were able to go back to times that we even forgot ourselves and that brought back a lot of memories. Since our training period to debut until today, we wanted to show all the hard work . . . while also sharing the authentic, the more original moments on stage that we really didn’t get to share with fans before. I hope that the Blinks are looking forward to the documentary and to our story,” said Jenny.
Rosé added that “all of our members, when we were having the interview, were able to open up and share some of our genuine thoughts.”
While having cameras around them to film the documentary were uncomfortable at first, the members eventually got used to it.
“At first it was a little bit awkward. We were not really familiar with having camera all around us 24/7 but we think we got more comfortable,” Lisa revealed.
BLACKPINK members share a strong bond as they have been together since their trainee days and Jennie said they are like a family.
“We have worked together since we were teenagers. And we are in our 20s. We were able to share all of our emotions in the world throughout this journey. Of course we are like family. We are very comfortable with sharing our opinions with each other,” she said.
Through her nephew, Suh said she got to know more about K-pop and “Light Up the Sky” focuses on BLACKPINK’s history. “I knew BLACKPINK but I didn’t know much. I was very excited. I’m Korean-American so anything that has Korean subject matter is interesting to me. I think we were interested in telling the story of how BLACKPINK came together and how these four girls kind of each had a path that brought them to BLACKPINK. And then what it is like to be part of this huge phenomenon,” she said.
One of the things that she learned about BLACKPINK while doing the documentary is that the girls worked hard to get to where they are now.
“I think something I learned about their story was that their success is very hard won. They worked very hard for it. Each one of the members is very strong willed and fierce,” she said.
Jennie said, “I think all four of us have a very clear purpose that we wanted to achieve as members of BLACKPINK. For every moment that we went through together to achieve them, we wanted to make sure that all four of us, none of us became tired of it. We were all in it together.”
When asked what she wanted to say to herself in the past as a trainee, Jennie said, “I would say ‘enjoy the moment’ if I were to go back in time. I think not just for me but for the four of us because we all had monthly grades that came out when we were trainees. So at the time, I think, we weren’t able to really think these moments were really precious. I would like to say ‘do well’ and ‘keep going’ because you’ll become BLACKPINK.”
Rosé said the proudest moment for BLACKPINK is every time they make their comeback to the music scene.
“I think every time we made a comeback, every time we came back with new music and new music videos, we really put it in our all in it. And every time we see the result, we really feel proud. Sometimes when we are in the grind, there are so many things that distract us. But once we see the results, that moment I would say is when we feel the most fulfilled,” she said.
Jisoo said the key to BLACKPINK’s success is they always try to bring something new for their fans and the public.
“Music doesn’t stop at music these days. The visuals are important and the audience listens to music, they like to take part in it, imitate it as well. It has changed to something that has very different and numerous different factors involved. In that sense, we always want to bring something new to the audience. And I think our fans appreciate that and that’s why they love us. We are very, very thankful for that,” she said.
As for aspiring singers, Lisa advised, “I think the most important thing is to find what you truly love. Always have confidence in yourself, take care of yourself and love yourself.”
Suh said she was impressed most by BLACKPINK’s determination to succeed in their careers.
“The first time I met them, I was in the backstage before a performance. They were all so down to earth, and bubbly, and warm and friendly, which I think is true. As we were filming, I came to kind of see the other sides of them. And really I think what they share in common is this tenacity. And that’s what most impressed me. They were all determined, you know, to make it,” she said.
Asked what their goals are in 2021 and 10 years later, Jisoo said, “Recently we have released our first official album. So we want to do our best on that. Going forward we want to continue to challenge ourselves, continue to think about what kind of new aspects. We’ve done that.”
She added, “We thought about what kind of new things we wanted to show to the world. And because music has now become a very extended form of art, we want to be able to provide the best of that to all of our fans. In that sense, I think the documentary ‘Light Up the Sky,’ will be one of the first steps of doing that. I think it will help us to do that even more going forward. In 10 years, hopefully we will still be BLACKPINK. The way we always have been.”
“BLACKPINK: Light Up the Sky” documentary is available at www.netflix.com/BlackpinkLightUpTheSky.