Discoveries from South Korea World Cinema

A young man who lives in the big city with his brother spends his nights having sex with other men for money. When one customer doesn't have enough money to pay, they arrange to meet the next night.

Akiko worries about her husband's gambling debts and wants to make money. I accept my son friend as a boarder. My son's friend felt sorry for Akiko struggling alone, and at some point she started to feel like a woman. The bright colors touched my heart. I can't even stand my friend's mother!

Longtime lovers Jiseon and Sangwon share a playful relationship. One day, Jiseon jokingly confesses that she is an alien, but Sangwon doesn’t believe her. Then, Jiseon suddenly disappears, and Sangwon sets out to find her.

This film begins with a Nepalese person named Minu who sings “Tears of Mokpo”. He came to Korea for a living in this 20s and made the band “Stop Crackdown” known for expressing the lives of migrant laborers through song. But being an illegal alien, he is deported after 18 years.

IM Kwon-taek is a Korean film-maker. He was born in 1934 when his country was under Japanese occupation. When Korean War was over his parents became North Korean partisan, and he ran away from home. He’s made 101 films since he made his debut in 1962 with Farewell Doman River. He tasted the glory at Cannes Int’l Film Festival with Chiwhasun. However making the 102nd film seems harder than ever to this 80-year-old director. His 2 projects have been suspended. He still can’t find chance to make his 102nd film, but spends daily routine free from film-making. This is a recording of years that the film-maker spends without making a film.

Dumped by his girlfriend without an explanation why, Cheolsu seeks the help of a psychiatrist who tells him that to reunite with his ex, he needs to break free of the Korean male stereotypes that are holding him back.

In the middle of night, Song goes out looking for a pho truck with her friend, Hoon, whom she met by chance.

At the eastern end of Seoul, in a huge apartment complex, it has long been a paradise for cats and people to run around and give love and joy together. However, there are people who are worried about cats who are not leaving the place which will be demolished soon, ahead of reconstruction. "I want to ask. Do you want to keep living here?" For the happy farewell of cats and people, a beautiful struggle begins!

A woman arrives in Korea and makes her way to her ancestral home to learn the mysterious history of an ornate silver dagger in her possession.

When young, we might try witchcraft out of curiosity to make our wishes come true, even if it’s scary. For such curiosity, Joohee, who is unable to find hope in reality, pays the price, as well as her friends who she neglects.

Fifteen-year-old Myung-hee and her nine-year-old brother Myung-ho are of Korean-Chinese descent. Their mother left for Yeonbyeon three months ago, promising to return with their father, and they have heard no news from her since. Every day, Myung-hee and Myung-ho go to the shipping port or airport hoping for their parents' return. Tired from waiting one day, Myung-hee meets Yong-kyu, a young man high from sniffing glue. Beyond a tough and violent exterior, Myung-hee finds a young man's heartwarming inner-self, and she expects Yong-kyu to take the place of her parents. But even Yong-kyu leaves her and life steadily deteriorates. Hoping for help, Myung-hee goes to a familiar Korean-Chinese woman, arriving in time to find immigration officials taking the woman away. They are now truly alone.

Choi Yeon, who is rumored to be a lesbian, doesn't care about the rumors. However, she feels special about Ha-gyeong's friendly manners. Choi Yeon gets confused when the rumors about her become true.

A professional killer with no missing target climbs to the rooftop to get the job done. With no target in sight, he gets a phone call from the client. “The target is late. And with all due respect, Mr. Killer, could you give me a discount please?” The killer gets upset with the unreasonable proposition, but he knows that he needs to compete with others who take the job at lower prices.

Min-kyung takes the lead role in a short film. As time goes by, the scene is twisted, and the minute cracks between Min-kyung and director begin.

In order to get himself out of immense debt, a man is offered one way out: his girlfriend must give up both of her eyes to a crime lord.

A rare chance to experience a live-action children’s movie made in Korea. An elementary student name Jingu can no longer stay with his parents and comes to live in a temple of young monks, but he is shy and does not get along with the others. Then one day someone breaks in and steals a statue and the altar portrait. As the only one who witnessed the crime, Jingu sets off with the other young monks to catch the thieves.

Kyung-soo knock on Yoo-jin's door. As she lets him in, He's looking for a chance to get her back.

1. The art of sex. Skills to hit a home run learned and mastered with Kyeong-won and Sin-ae! A chance to see and hear detailed stories about how to seduce a woman and what to do when you enter the field. 2. Body type in sex. Sex according to the body type that Ah-yeong and Hae-il say. And it shows what a hot body conversation is like!​

Taichi watches as his uncle's wife and co-worker, Kumiko, struggle with a troubled marriage. Kumiko finally decided to divorce her uncle. Taichi feels his body heat up as he comforts her own little mother. Eventually, the two begin to covet each other while riding the heated atmosphere.

A transgender girl, RAZ is a BJ (broadcasting jockey) for a website, 'Afreeca TV' Though she couldn't get a job in an entertainment spot for the simple reason that she's not pretty, she's not a kind of common transgenders that we know. Her message board is plastered with abuse of her look and transgender people, but she still smiles and burp them off!

In the woman’s room, memories constantly accumulate and disappear like dust. The man spends his time in this room creating futile little games with woman’s memories.

There is a teenage boy who killed his mother. A detective examines him mercilessly. This film is about the truth behind their unbearable suspense.

Soo-yeon, a call center counselor, runs into Mi-kyung, her bad customer, and begins revenge!

May 14th is one random day that happens to be Min-jeong’s birthday and her sister’s wedding day as well. She comes to spend the very day all alone.

As a 16-year-old girl during the March 1 independence movement in 1919, Yu Gwan-sun stood at the forefront of the march for the freedom of the nation. A biographical film about Yu Gwan-sun's short life and martyrdom.

Yoon Hye-ri is abducted by human traffickers while meeting her husband, and Oh In-ae is also kidnapped in Itaewon and her innocence is violated. The two people, who are sold to the provinces, try to escape but fail, and the husband gives up his job and looks for a wife. Then, he meets Oh In-ae and finally rescues his wife with the united power of prostitutes, an alienated group, and vows to live while stroking the deep wounds that a sick society has given to his wife.

A handsome swordsman is in love with his teacher’s daughter. However, a student has been promised her hand in marriage. A fight leaves the young Jedi with two less arms. The armless vigilante takes refuge and plans revenge on those that wronged him.

Things backfire for young Cheol-hie when she convinces her father to go on a blind date with her kindergarten teacher. It turns out that her teacher is actually Cheol-hie's birth mother. While at first, Cheol-hie is excited at the possibility of her parents getting back together, it turns out that her mother/teacher has different wedding plans coming up in the near future.

At some point, they dreamed of becoming a part of the national taekwondo team, but now, they have surrendered to reality. There were three friends, Hoon-i, Seong-ho, and Tae-yeong.

A man determines to kill himself every day, but continues with his life because he forgets to end himself due to alcoholic dementia. A severely alcoholic woman is living her life under grief and helplessness. These two utter strangers run into each other and set off to finish their lives together.

For the latest short film in collaboration with GQ and Vogue, director Lucy Luscombe encouraged Kai—member of K-Pop supergroup EXO—to travel back through time and place, an exercise that proved to uncover personal memories about his family and the origins of his love for dance and choreography.

Unable to adapt to his stepfamily, Seung-won leaves home on turning 20, to live in a small theater company in pursue of his dream of becoming an actor. Years later, while continuing his life at the theater company, he hears the news of his father's death, who he had not met for seven years. He impulsively leaves the theater company and returns to the house where his biological family used to live. One day, his stepsister Ga-hyeon visits Seung-won to ask him to return to his stepmother's house, so that she could leave home to prepare for the civil servant exam. Seung-won feels anxious about his family and dream again.

Kyung-min is an English tutor who is often pressured by his lover Seon-hee about getting married. He starts giving lessons to a new student Young-won, a piano tutor, and they decide to exchange tutoring like barter. Unlike Seon-hee, she seems to be an untied person when it comes to relationships, which strongly attracts Kyung-min. But as he falls for her, he faces unexpected but familiar situations.

A man struggles with his responsibities to his father and his desire for true love.

A story about the relationships between the disabled man Xiangshu and a deaf-mute girl on the run from the police who takes refuge on his land.

Chae-yeon, who works for an underwear company, secretly has a crush on Jeong-hoon, who is in the same office. Chaeyeon, lying in her bed, remembers her Jeonghoon and starts masturbating her... Oh no, as she reaches the climax, her mother enters Chaeyeon's room. But her mother acts as if she doesn't exist...'Am I an invisible person?' Chaeyeon, after feeling her climax at work every day, walks around her office naked with her transformed body, revealing her fantasies.

Tae-seong, a mixed martial arts professional with excellent skills, is injured and got disqualified as he gets caught up in a fight with his friend Byeong-jin inside a store ahead of his UFC debut. Hye-na, Byeong-jin's younger sister and BJ professional in mixed martial arts, encourages Tae-seong to make a comeback, but Tae-seong refuses. Hye-na finds out that the man who injured Tae-seong is Yang Ho-yeol, the strongest champion of "Blood Street", an illegal gambling game site where one can bet after a real street fighting match, and she informs Tae-seong about it. Tae-seong jumps into "Blood Street" for revenge. "Blood Street" users go wild, calling masked Tae-seong a "real fighter". Tae-seong and Ho-yeol break "Blood Street" and start a fight to be the real champion!

22nd of August, 1945. Japan lost the war and they loaded an 8,000 person Joseon laborer force onto a ship called the Ukisima to take them to the Busan Port. However, the ship sunk into the water due to an unknown blast. This is the story of thousands of Joseon people who dreamed of returning to their families and how they died.

There has been a series of gruesome murders in Taipei. The only lead is snake bite marks on the victims. During the investigation, Detective Ko meets reporter Lee Ok Jeong and falls in love. However, Detective Ko soon notices that she is keeping another secret, but he proceeds with the case anyway.

Sooae and Seongyu celebrate their 7th year anniversary together. Seongyu saves money from his car wash job and rents a camping car to spend this special day with Sooae. They have a hot intercourse in the camping car and Seongyu checks their love once again. However, it just so happens a close friend of Sooae’s is in Korea on this day and they go to meet her, and Juliet Seon. A freewheeling character, she starts sending odd looks to Seongyu.

A painter is inspired by another painter’s work.

Yong-Nyeo is recovering at the hospital. Her daughter, a director from Seoul, comes to visit her; starting point of a family imbroglio.

You and I can speak to each other without talking. We leave this moment, this time, for the moon.

Seojin lives with her mom, but they only see each other for about 10 minutes after Seojin returns from work in the morning. One seemingly ordinary day, everything changes when the emergency siren goes off. Suddenly, residents in the Seoul area are instructed to take shelter immediately. Though they live together, Seojin and her mom have rarely truly shared their lives — until now, as they begin to make an evacuation plan.

Eunjae, a nurse, reminisces about the days at the hospital while having tea at Seoun’s traditional Korean tea house.