Discoveries from South Korea World Cinema

Jihun is a 19-year-old trainee working at a small factory, where he is paired with Wooseok, his indifferent and careless supervisor. When a problem arises with a client, Jihun, who doesn’t have a driver’s license, happens to take the wheel.

In a devastated near-future Korea, a family venture through their apartment building hoping to attain life-saving ice. By any means necessary.

North Korean propaganda film about orchards that yield bigger crops after Kim Il-sung visits. The films was presented as a gift to friendly-minded countries in the world. And expected by the North Korean Culture Ministry to be displayed publicly. Sweden was one of the countries honored by receiving a copy of "Gwasu-ui nara / Country of Orchards".

Mimi falls in love with Albert, who works for the Korean Embassy in the United States. But Albert disappears on the day he is supposed to propose to her.

A young Korean-American figure skater must bear the tough-love parenting of her mother, the mind games of her coach, and her own insidious self-doubt as she recovers from an injury.

The 21st Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival Trailer

This film is inspired by a moment of one autumn day in my childhood. The moment I experienced was impossible to be measured or represented. I became curious about this ‘Image of Time’. This film is the first step on the journey.

A bloodbath of revenge against the Japanese pirates begins! In the 32nd year of the reign of Emperor Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty, Japanese pirates invaded the southeastern coastal area, and in order to combat them, the Military Bureau of the Ming Dynasty decided to produce a new weapon called 'Bimengpo'. 'Nogi', who was appointed as the person in charge of the Sergeant Bureau, completes 'Bimonpo' after three years of hard work, but in a chaotic situation, not only his family but also his colleagues are brutally murdered. 'Nogi', who barely survived, begins to seek merciless bloody revenge on the Japanese pirates who killed his family and colleagues...

The film's director KIM Saebom, the daughter of Small Bird and Mr. Pig, decides to open an exhibition for the two of them and goes to Busan, where they live. As she records their daily life and artistic activities, she learns about their lost dreams, hopes and their love.

In the everyday life of the bus, the world still hopes to find warmth.

Young-gu, a pizza shop clerk, chases an old man dressed in old clothes to go to the Joseon Dynasty. In the village where Yeong-gu ended up, a terrifying monster called Dragon Tuka appears for many years, demanding that a living virgin be sacrificed every month. In order to catch Tuka with a lot of bounty, the warriors come from all over the country, but they are beaten at once. In fact, aliens appear in the face of a permanent reality, and these aliens are trying to capture Tuma and his necrotic dragon Tuka by using their permanent bodies. The battle between the Aliens and Tuka begins.

In the summer of 1994, as a time capsule was buried under Namsan to mark Seoul’s status as the capital, Sol suddenly breaks up with her boyfriend Hyun. Hyun insists that placing a ring in the capsule will seal their eternal love, but Sol doesn’t believe him. In 2024, a time capsule park guide and an antique shop worker who both resemble Sol and Hyun meet a woman claiming to have come for the capsule. As they stroll through the park, the man is drawn to her and offers her a ring.

Seoul Cinema will be closing down soon. The last screened film, The Widow, shows scenes that depict what Seoul looked like long ago. After watching it, I walk along the same streets shown in the film. The famous statue of General Yi Sun-shin, which was said to have been moved, is still in the same location. I feel like I’ve already walked this road with someone else before. While a lot of things change, something of the past always remains. I decide to fall in love with these remnants.

'hibernation ' is conceived from the videotape of the wedding ceremony and the daughter's home video. In the work process, the filmmaker pays attention to the details being recorded, what I remember, and the relationship to lead it in the new detail. Hand printing performs the role of editing and printing simultaneously. As a result, the print created in this process will be a result and new material at the same time. Additive printing procedure is taken as a manner of recording in this film.

One day, two film making students meet evil.

Cha's meeting with the beautiful Mi-yeong is misunderstood by his family. His wife, furious at his behavior, packs up and moves to Pusan while his son, disgusted with his father, leaves home for Seoul.

"The Cheonggye stream runs through the center of Seoul. Today a popular urban recreation area with clear water, promenades and leafy plants, the Cheonggyecheon was, until only eight years ago, a filthy rivulet under a busy freeway. In the years following the Japanese occupation and during the Korean War, part of the area around the stream was taken over by merchants who made use of the military war scrap, thus helping to lay the foundations for the country’s economic recovery. With the renaturalization of the stream, the neighborhood is now threatened by gentrification.

In the rural Liangshan Mountains, 14-year-old Qihuo and her friends embark on a road trip to find a skirt for her traditional menarche rite of passage.

The runaway high school students, Hyeon-su and Dong-gyu, are helped by Min-jung who is a member of the so called runaway family. Hyeon-su asks to go to a runaway family’s residence, but Dong-gyu opposes it, and Hyeon-su and Dong-gyu feel for each other as they depend on one another. Dong-gyu frankly confesses to Hyeon-su, but Hyeon-su denies his feelings and leaves Dong-gyu to head for the home of runaway family by himself.

A fascinating trip to Buddhist temples in South Korea. Three nuns share ancient knowledge about the truths of the contemporary world and teach that the balance of eating habits is the key to our health body, mind and the preservation of the planet.

While searching for her grandmother who vanished without a trace from a Seoye studio, Jisu encounters a mysterious woman delivering ramyun.

This action-oriented film tells the story of a traveling theatrical troupe. When one of the actresses is sold to criminals running an opium den, Woon-gyu Na's character rescues her and returns her to the troupe.

A new virus (a.k.a “fantomal virus”) is transmitted to a small rural village. Dasol, a three-month nurse working in the village hospital, is being workplace bullying (a.k.a “burned”). In the meantime, Dasol begins to educate a new nurse Eunbi earlier than expected due to the poor ward situation.

Ju-a, a 15-year-old girl born and raised in Chuncheon, a small tourist town in Gangwon Province, spends her summer vacation swimming with her friends during the day and helping her mother, who runs an old restaurant, at night. Then, one day, a massive typhoon hits her hometown, and the statue, the town's landmark, disappears.

Tired of repetitive routines, the woman begins to understand the man who waits only for the end of the earth.

When reading out loud, sometimes it is hard to tell who between the reader and the text penetrates the other. Archives are not much different, since they are always perceived through their present utility. Two young female readers invited by Jangwook Lee discover as they read – in a careful, faltering voice – various articles from the “Sunday Seoul”, a typical magazine from the 1970s, devoted to supposed female archetypes: time, bodies, voices and texts echo one another. (Nicolas Feodoroff)

For the purpose of collection, preservation, and recording, numerous faces that existed in different times and places densely gather in a single space. Among them are photos of Koreans taken during the Japanese occupation era for physical measurements and Buddha statues with severed heads for reasons unknown.

Until we are forgotten, we exist.

An incident occurs where the owner of Chwiui Battlefield, one of the four major battlefields of Gyeongseong, is brutally murdered in a closed room where no one can enter. The peculiar thing is that he was killed without any wounds or signs of poisoning. In a murder case without evidence, all sides of the opening department face difficulties in the investigation. So-baek Lee, a fortune teller from Shaolin Temple, under the orders of Master Bang, who was the teacher of Shaolin Temple, helps the enemy to investigate a murder case. Meanwhile, Lee So-baek and Jeok-palbang, who find out that the wanted criminal Yong-gu is using the lost currency on the battlefield, point to him as the culprit... Are they sure the culprit they pointed out is the real culprit? And will the mystery of a murder case without evidence or traces be solved?

Jiyeon, who dreams of becoming an actress, is attracted to photographer Geonyoung while taking pictures. But soon, she finds out that he has a lover.

Many trekkers visit Oze, a wetland with breathtaking scenery. However, having a long and severe winter, the mountain lodges in Oze are only open from May to October. Vehicles are unable to pass through the wetlands; “botcah” (the traditional carriers manually transporting luggage), who carry packages of food and other materials on foot, are the only ones who can get to the lodges. Speed of Happiness sends respect to the botcah who have embodied values learned while walking every day and humbly accompany their daily lives. Walking along at the pace of each botcah, the film gazes at calluses, smiles, hardships, endurance, and hope. The solidity of their lives in Oze pounds our hearts and the taste of each season touches our skin.

The man is making a living by circulating advertisements. While turning the ad flyers, they find a house with a slightly open door. The man goes home thinking about stealing dinner money. There is a quiet, tightly closed door inside the house. The man who was about to come out with nothing wants to open the closed door. There are the bodies of an old man and a girl who committed suicide when forced to open a tightly closed door. Then someone rings the doorbell.

An elementary school teacher, Sun-mi is a patient with congenital absence of the vagina, which means she has no vagina and womb. Since childhood, she has been hiding her disease and living inside a bubble to protect herself from society. One day, Sun-mi goes on a blind date and believes that she has finally found her Mr. Right. Would that man be the one she can spend the rest of her life with happily ever after?

Keum-ji was born with a hideous face due to some medicine her mother took while she was pregnant with her. Keum-ji grew up under much abuse while she watched her twin sister, Mi-kyung, receives all their parents' love. Her resentment is strong. Keum-ji develops a high level of concentration until it grows into a supernatural power which she uses to try to find her life. One day, Keum-ji has some plastic surgery done. She looks like Mi-kyung but Mi-kyung ends up looking hideous like Keum-ji once did. The two twin sisters are psychologically and physically linked, sharing a single fate. With their mother, Hye-won, begging her husband to return Mi-kyung to her former self, the husband is very conflicted but chooses Mi-kyung in the end.

Pong Ddol dreams of forming a band, but money is a problem, and there's little chance they'll find any. Pong Ddol offers Chul-wook the job of band manager if he helps with financing.

The author writes that at the moment the sun retrieved its last ray of light, the girl "sensed sensuality in the dark and watched death". The Woman at the Toy Store (OH Jeonghee) was transformed into a film, and the sexuality of the girl and woman gained the rhythm of requiem. The thrill of the moment when the positive changes to negative is, therefore, the sensuality of the cinema. Blue Requiem, the queer experimental work dedicated to the girl and the woman, arrived in the Winter Republic in 1986.

In the late evening, in Mano Design Team Office. The team members are celebrating their successful completion of work in Seongsan Electronics Project. As it gets late, everyone else leaves, but the team leader Seonggyu and core team member Heeju remain to continue their own celebration and they go to the team leader's office. The two are drunk with alcohol and the ambience. Seonggyu tries to touch Heeju and Heeju, who has a boyfriend, leaves the office refusing him. Heeju sues Seonggyu for sexual harrassment at work, but the police investigation results are unfavorable for Heeju. In fact, Sunggyu submitted CCTV recordings of when they were in good terms, as well as the financial status of Heeju stating that she has some loan to pay off. The colleagues start talking behind her back and the vicious rumor makes the situation even worse for her. Heeju is no longer considered a victim but the offender, and begins her difficult struggle.

A remake of Na woon-gyu's 1926 silent film "A Soldier of Fortune".

Jin-ho is a man who was framed, but served 15 years in prison because no one believed him. He goes home, but it's gone and he can't reach his family. Jin-ho is eating at a restaurant when a customer's wallet goes missing, and he's blamed for it. Eun-soo happens to be eating next to him and she stands up for Jin-ho. That's how they first meet. Aimless and hopeless, Jin-ho follows Eun-soo to the sea. Eun-soo is diagnosed with terminal cancer and she was on her way to the sea, where she went with her family when she was young. They slowly walk to the sea and get to know each other's emotional scars...

Ho Bang is a young man out of work, living in his friend's house, trying to pay off debt. One day, he goes down to the country side to interview for a job. Unable to find his way he stumbles into a town where everyone has special powers. Not only are the people strange, but it's a town that one cannot leave, and time stands still at day light.

1983 KBO 30-win legend Chang Myeong-bu and his hidden yakuza brother, Yong-bu. Divided by the mound's light and alley shadows, they fought to survive Zainichi discrimination. Through Yong-bu's eyes, this tragic saga weaves unseen records and KBO archives into a forgotten diaspora's requiem.

Min-hyeong, a musician working in Mullae-dong, is preparing to move out after failing to renew his lease. One day, he meets Jee-an, a welder, and as they grow closer, he begins to write the final track of his album.

Mukhtar, a 50-year-old still haunted by a trauma that made him hate soccer, reluctantly becomes the coach of a children's soccer club that's being used for money laundering by a mysterious crime boss. At first, Mukhtar doesn't want any part of it, but as he starts working with orphans who dream of success, he gradually changes his mind. Together, they head to Brazil to chase their dreams, trying to enter the championship. Can Argymak overcome these obstacles and achieve their big goal?