Discoveries from South Korea World Cinema

Chandigarh stands as an anomaly amongst the chaotic Indian landscape. Designed by Le Corbusier in 1964 as a utopian vision of what modern independent India could be, his obsession with straight lines and ‘form follows function’ is evident in the urban design of the city. In 2020, the director visits his parents in his hometown of Chandigarh trying to resolve an ongoing disagreement over his life choices. Over this time spent at home where moments of gentle affection seem to be punctuated by a total communication breakdown, the filmmaker starts to suspect that the city might have a more insidious role to play in this unravelling situation. As he spends time within the grid of the house, the larger grid structures around him start becoming apparent. Could it be possible that the design of this city suppresses individuality, which threatens its ideal of order and coherence?

Joo-young tries to call a friend on her birthday after a long time, only to find out that her number is not in use anymore. She spends all day to find her and learns some things she never knew about her lost friend up until now. Soon, the forgotten memory of that day comes back to her.

There is a happy family of a father and four sons. In this comedy, the four sons find love one after another and have a joint wedding in the end.

In a ruined village, Chamsae endures a precarious life while caring for his ailing mother, Geumja. When his cherished MP3 player breaks, his estranged sister Heeyeon returns with her friend Eunyeong. Despite her failing health, Geumja goes out to dance every day. After her final dance, Geumja passes away, and Chamsae finally leaves the village behind.

Aporia tells the story of someone caught in the midst of cultural, religious, ethnic, and national conflict. After fleeing Syria, Haleem hopes to bring his wife and children and settle in Germany. During a layover in South Korea, he is found in possession of a fake passport. Haleem then finds himself struggling in an unfamiliar country, taking illegal and illicit work in the hopes of being reunited with his family…

In 2022, Jean-Marie Straub passed away, reuniting with her creative partner and lover, Danièle Huillet, who had died in 2006. Inspired by their films, I embarked on a climb up a hill near my neighborhood. Though it's a trail I walk daily, it somehow echoes the spaces in their works. While this act isn’t enough to truly know them, it's better than giving up entirely.

If you look into the entrance of one of the huge caves on the Korean island of Jeju, it looks like a camera lens. If you walk into the cave, it looks like a screen, a rectangle showing clouds and white light, just like a film. Director Kim Minjung delves into the bloody history of Jeju, where tens of thousands were killed in a massacre in 1948. The camera follows the traces in the landscape, sometimes transformed by a strident, distance-creating red light, accompanied by a commentary by avant-garde filmmaker Hollis Frampton. Film as a means to address history and its taboos.

When a queer Korean adoptee visits her original mother in Seoul, long-held regrets and cultural misunderstandings come to the surface alongside tenderness, humor, and tenacity.

A woman wearing a short skirt pick up a man with a lover.

Misao, who got married after living with Masaya, is living a happy life, but one regret is that she does not have children. She tries to have children, but she cannot determine the cause of the infertility. Then, one day, she accidentally receives a visit to a place called 'Tokyo Fertility Research Institute', but the director of the institute commits a crime against Misao, and that evening she is deceived by the lies of Masaya's boss who was interested in Misao.

Bo-shim's father sends her to a rich man to be his concubine. Her lover, Geum-ryong, becomes a Buddhist monk in the hope of forgetting her but with little success

In the era of cinema banned, Tae-hee, Hee-jun, Yong-seok, Hyun-sung, and Hyo-jin arrive at where they have been one day, reminiscing about cinema (in their own ways). They then finally set off on a long journey to meet new cinema.

Sangmin will live in the same house as Minsoo, a senior at sports college who he has a crush on. While spending happy days every day, he is banned from his senior from banning spicy chicken, a soul food, because of his mistakes. Is his choice senior or spicy chicken?

In Seoul during simpler times when folks didn't have much, two young brothers spend ordinary days having extraordinary fun with family and friends.

Sun-hee, who is the inspiration for her daughter Yong-ju’s novel ‘My Mother’ receives a message from her old friend Mi-yeon. Five years have passed since they last met, and there are things they would like to, but cannot say to each other.

In Korea, a "Beommusa" is a licensed legal practitioner who prepares court documents for people in crisis. In a Beommusa's office, A father aids debtors yet is indebted himself. Eight years ago, fearing that debt might one day destroy his father, the director became his assistant to help repay what was owed. This film traces debt-born pain, seeking dissolution.

Korean martial arts movie

The title refers to three “female-to-male” men. Ko has been taking hormones for 8 years in the belief that he must become completely “masculine” to be accepted; Han has her breasts removed as part of a process of becoming “ungendered”; while Kim finds that his new male legal identity only opens up new confusions.

Chizuru, a female writer specializing in 19 gold novels! While contemplating her new novel, she makes a radical proposal to the Akane couple who lives next door to actually try swapping for a more vivid depiction of swapping. The small deviation that started just for her writing suddenly encroaches on the two of them. Once tasted, an unforgettable and addictive ecstasy begins now.

A man who studies Mongolian history enjoys happy life with his wife. But one day after the president declares martial law, he loses his wife in a sudden accident. Struck by the immense shock, he loses his ability to speak. Now, the man must find his voice again in order to speak with the spirit of his departed wife.

Kang Woo-chul is a freshman in the department of music at a university. After losing his memory of the past after a car accident, he met Yoon-ah, a female ghost who was in a hurry to reincarnate after 49 days.

A former sex criminal has been cut off by his neighbors. Raises questions about the human rights of sex offenders

Junha is one of the most difficult children at the school. His autism causes him to attack his classmates and even teachers without warning. Each outburst further isolates Junha from his community as his teachers and peers struggle to find a way to live "with" Junha. The camera provides an intimate look into this society, leaving the question; what is human entity and how is it connected?

Still and All is a story about the souls living beneath the Yeongdo Bridge in Busan. Yeongdo and its bridge offer a historical space with lingering traces from the Japanese colonial era to the Korean War. The people under Yeongdo Bridge, reconstructed in 2013 after 47 years, are driven to move when the vicinity around it is designated a Special Tourist Zone.

From the behind-the-scenes of BOL4 Asia tour in Macau, Tokyo, Jakarta, and Singapore, to the last day of 2023 and the solo concert ”Merry Go Round“ in Seoul. Let‘s meet again in the fun and warm time of the day!

A physical education student is deemed too disruptive to the studious atmosphere of his lodgings and is kicked out forcing him to stay at his friend's apartment

Set against the glittering backdrop of Seoul, ‘Love Story: Fragments’ intertwines three touching love stories that converge on a single, unforgettable summer night. Yon and Chung Myeong take the delicate first steps of their relationship, while Choo Yon and Kim face the challenges of jealousy that threaten their bond. Meanwhile, Mimì and DonYul grapple with the pain of a final farewell.

Jae-kyung is embarrassed and runs away after seeing someone talking to herself at a bar. Did she live in her next room? Yuya and Jae-kyung, who are free from misunderstanding, are rapidly approaching. Soon, they will develop into a relationship with each other. However, the new relationship at the boarding house causes all relationships to break. To make matters worse, Jae-kyung misunderstood Yuya's appearance to share her concerns with Ken. Can their relationship be restored?

A special documentary produced for the 30th anniversary of the Seoul Olympics, 88/18 looks back at South Korea in the 1980s as the nation raced toward the Games. Through archival footage and reflection, the film examines how the 1988 Seoul Olympics brought profound changes that extended far beyond sport, reshaping Korean society itself.

A freelancer Seyoung heads to a sea village to help his soon-to-be elementary school teacher friend move. During his stay, he comes across Gayoung and Hyena who do nothing but surf. After the odd encounter, Seyoung starts to doubt himself.

In July 1951, all the sides to the Korean War sought a ceasefire. For a ceasefire, the Allied and Communist forces began to hold talks at Naebongjang, located northeast of Kaesong. However, they only sharply opposed each other and didn't make progress in the negotiation. In October 1951, the two sides met again in the small village of Neolmun-ri below Gaeseong. They set up tents there to negotiate and named the place Panmunjom. The name Panmunjeom is a combination word of Panmun, meaning Neulmun-ri, and “Jom,” of an inn.

When one of his charges at the orphange dies, Jang Cheong-chan decides to search for the boy's mother who had given him up due to finacial problems. His search leads him to help many women forced to work on the streets to earn enough money to live.

"Do not leave the house. Take medicine and go to bed when the sun goes down. Do not touch locked doors." Jae-jun, who had always followed his father's rules throughout his life, begins to break them one by one as he enters puberty.

On an island, a sergeant who is only 5 days away from discharge must form a team to search for a deserter with a private who has just joined the Marines. However, the sergeant takes a nap after drinking and the private is left to look for the deserter alone.

On the autumn days when the SAT is close, Jaejun, the No. 1 school of all time, often misses school. Hyuna couldn't always beat Jaejun because of his school grades. I can't get my dog ​​anyway. Hyuna makes a second pledge to follow.

A middle school student, Jung-eun, practices cartwheeling but it doesn’t go well. She even tries harder in order to impress a boy she has a crush on.

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who lived alone in a small village in the high mountains. And one day, her worst fears came true. So she runs away and decides to go into a forbidden forest to die. In the forest, Okyoen meets somebody- her friend who got married and moved away years ago. Okyeon soon realizes something was off with her friend. Because she was wearing the same wedding attire from the day she got married. in the midst of all the secrets being revealed, what choice will the little girl make?

RM performs four songs from his new album 'Indigo' at Dia Beacon in New York.

'Lee Seon' dreamed of becoming a wise mother and wife, leaving her unfortunate past behind. But there was no proper man in this world! Thinking that starting over was the only way out, she dreams of a new love by faking suicide. Absurdly, 'Lee Seon' faced a real death! The moment your breath stops, the seven-day time slip door opens to look back on past relationships... Will her love be rewarded?

Seung-hee returns to her mother's hometown, Geoje Island, after having put an end to life in Seoul. Time had passed, grandma has become weak and feeble, uncle and his lover were trying to sell the house. Seung-hee, feeling uncomfortable, stays in the container where mom's belongings are kept.

While working on her first documentary film, director Areum meets a progressive party activist and chef, Seongman, and gets married. After getting married, she takes Seongman with her to study in France, of which she had long been preparing. In France, the only thing Seongman could do was housework. Not being able to read or speak the language, Seongman suffers from depression, when Areum, the one responsible for their financial and administrative duties, gets pregnant. In order to help Seongman get over his depression, Areum suggests that they start running “Oegil Restaurant”, a project to cook and serve to a limited number of guests on specific days. However, after the birth of their baby, Areum starts concentrating on her studies and film-making, leaving Seongman parenting alone. This leads to frequent aggressive fights, and Seongman declares a strike. Will Areum be able to succeed in juggling both her marriage and film?

A martial arts master is betrayed by a bandit leader, who wants to destroy his business. The bandit leader kills most of the master's family and takes his property. Years later, the master's son comes looking for revenge...

A young woman, overcome with hunger, trades her brother for a sack of rice. The cost will be even higher than she bargained for.

The country house, the only inheritance from the grandfather, was bequeathed to the eldest grandson. Upon hearing this news, the mother cannot simply stand by and allow it to happen.

Jang-hwa and Hong-ryeon, the daughters of Officer Bae, die an unfortunate death from their step-mother's abuse. Jang-hwa's soul is unable to rest at peace, she appears in front of the district magistrate pleading for justice in her case.

Love can seem beautiful, enviable and mutual always. But sometimes it seems so cold, painful and delusional to some couples. This is exactly what this couple show us; they face fights, and relationship problems. They show us how loving can hurt.

On April 26, 2017, THAAD was deployed in Soseongri, accompanied by the military boots of the Korean police and the sneers of American soldiers, destroying the peaceful daily lives of those who live here. THAAD, meant to stop wars, turns Soseongri into a battlefield. The people in Soseongri lie down on the asphalt road again to protect their lives.

A Berlinale award nominated short drama.