Discoveries from South Korea World Cinema

Sooni is an old lady who has not been able to eat a meal properly due to a breakup recently. Such a friend of Sooni, an electric rice cooker, wants to feed Sooni.

The cinematic release of Korea’s hottest 2020 YouTube documentary series - the real, extreme story of ＜Toy Soldiers＞ unfolds on the big screen! “Grind harder! Just do it!” ＜Toy Soldiers＞ follows a hodgepodge troop of celebrities, athletes and infiuencers through the grit and grind of paramilitary group MUSAT’s(Multi UDT Tactics) extreme NavySeal inspired training program to uncover the meaning of comradery, tenacity and what it means to be “real men".

Lee Seon-ho, the folklorist studying shamanism, is trying to get a faculty position at one of the universities in Seoul. After his third rejection from the universities, he leaves for Jeju Island to look for a new subject for his research. In Jeju, he meets Ahn Hae-ri, a young and beautiful lady shaman who is as highly respected as the national intangible cultural asset. To study Hae-ri’s rituals, Seon-ho becomes one of her assistants, at Mo Yeong-ri Shrine and they become close. 18th Jecheon International Music & Film Festival

After coincidentally witnessing a boy jumping from the rooftop due to pressures of the college entrance exam, our heroes conceive an idea for a learning device that works while you sleep. Dong-gi, Ho-tae, and Jae-ha go to Chairman Kim of an electronics company to get the funds to make it. They experiment the 'snooze machine' on their younger brother, Dong-seok. Once at the bottom of the class, Dong-seok goes to the top but he is ostracized by his classmates. They reject the snooze machine and shout, 'Let us live like human beings!' Ho-tae gets into an argument with the other two over the development of the snooze machine. He moves out but later is persuaded back by the great burst of laughter stemming from solid friendship. Arm in arm, the three face a brighter tomorrow together.

A trans person is contemplating on the "New Seoul" rising from the "Old and ugly Seoul" while strolling along a river, Cheonggyecheon River in the middle of downtown Seoul, where they meet a talking dog. The two start talking and the dog guides the stranger through a weird multidimensional world. The male side of their personality sees Seoul one way and the female side sees something complete different.

15-year-old Young-sun, abandoned by her adoptive parents and left with nowhere to go, temporarily stays at the home of Sua, whom she met as a tennis training partner. Young-sun, wanting to stay at Sua's house for a long time, tries hard to become part of the family, but Sua and her family find Young-sun burdensome.

Dong-Hwa is a complete loser, whose first novel called 'I met Kafka' brought the publishing company bankruptcy. To bring home the bacon, he tries to drive a taxi but only ends up running over someone. One day Dong-Hwa is offered a job to do ghostwriting for a CEO named Man-Chul, who turns out to be the ringleader of the biggest criminal syndicate in Korea. Dong-Hwa soon finds himself perfectly at ease in the mob, while Man-Chul starts learning about the other part of the world.

When the ruthless Yellow Tigers ascend to the top of the criminal underworld and law enforcement fails to put an end to their violent acts, a martial arts expert organizes his own gang to take them down.

There is trouble in a fishing village on a remote southern island. The catch has been meagre and Wang-nyeoni, the local shaman, is on strike: she refuses to perform a ritual to turn fortunes around. In flashback we learn how she married into a shaman (dang-gol) family, tried her best to help her husband succeed as fisherman, but found both their lives blighted by Pan-su, the village boss and main ship-owner. After agreeing to return to duty, blessing the fishing fleet, Wang-nyeoni will serve up cold revenge in spectacular style.

Won-sik is kicked out by her roommate Woo-jung and becomes obsessed with winning her back. She begins to practice pole jumping when Woo-jung proposes that she might change her mind if he shows her something skillful about herself. Young-rok, a former athletic coach makes the incredible recommendation that Won-sik might impress Woo-jung by pole vaulting up to the their roof-top apartment. Meanwhile, idol wannabe and former athlete of Young-rok, joins this crazy adventure at Young-rok's behest, drawn in by Won-sik's determination.

A poor girl marries into a wealthy family, but after the birth of her first child, she discovers that she is unhappy in her marriage and is forced to make a series of difficult decisions.

An amazing adventure of Dooly, a baby dinosaur and his friends looking for Doolys mom! Can Dooly find his mom?

In the near future, 2220, the Seoul landscape appears no different from how it is now, but in 200 years’ time, the government will be creating synthetic humans, or clones, to maintain a healthy life for its people. Artificial bodies are used in industry and for public work until they are required for their original purpose and humans must pay monthly health insurance premiums for the service.

Aspiring filmmaker Hyunsu offers Miju a role, and they fall in love. As time passes, Miju grows tired of his dreaming while she struggles at work. A fight leads them to experience different July 7ths, leaving their future uncertain.

Tanaka has two sons. After the son and the husband get married, the two daughters-in-law also move into the house to live with the father-in-law. One day, the second daughter-in-law received a notice from her American husband that she wanted to divorce her; the eldest son also told his father about his divorce and left the house. After that, what kind of life will the father-in-law and his two daughters-in-law develop?

A series of mysterious taxi murders continue to happen and rumor has it that the victims are all the same high school graduates. Yeon-jeong, Jin-ki and Lee-seon make a great plan to investigate this case and upload the process on YouTube to become a ten million YouTuber… One day, a mysterious taxi appears in front of Yeon-jeong and her friends! A series of horrible moments are about to unfold before them! There’s another truth to “Nightscape”, a Montreal International Film Festival nominee. What is this murder taxi that these teenagers managed to get on film!

A noir melodrama depicting an incident in which two people who had to survive in their own way in this desperate world tainted by money and violence face each other as they become everything to each other.

Sixteen-year-old Yeo Lin used to have a boyfriend and normal life, but everything changed when she lost both her parents two years ago. To support her siblings, she sells her body. Quietly bearing wounds and responsibilities beyond her age, she faces the cruel trials of love, friendship, and premature adulthood, and she does it all in seeming detachment. Always tired, Yeo Lin suffers from chronic insomnia and relies on medication to sleep. For Yeo Lin, sleep is an escape that she wakes from too soon.

Magic Hour, The Seventeen is a special documentary about highlighting the K-pop industry through the performance culture enjoyed by the group Seventeen and its fans.

Jae Min tries to rob his own house with the help of his friend, Young Min. When Jae Min’s attempt fails, Young Min brings a friend, Hyun Jin, who has a car. The following day, Jae Min tries to break into his house again, this time with Hyun Jin. But Jae Min soon realizes involving Hyun Jin was a big mistake, and desperately tries to stop him, but things take a wrong turn and there’s no turning back.

Yeong-mi swears that she will revenge herself against Ku Yeon-su after he ruins her family. First she gains his trust and eventually moves in with him. Then she sets her plans of his destruction in motion.

The Um family is about to leave for a family trip. However, at the house the family arrived to enjoy their break, fired employee, Kim was waiting for the family. He screams while holding the limbs of a family member who tries to flee from him, and Kim demands payment for his discharge. Suffering, the family screams out and asks Um to give him what he wants, but Um thinks differently.

The wise Bae Ji-Ki is expelled from the town because of the jealousy of the men in town.

A self-supporting student injured during the 4.19 Student Uprising gets help from an older woman, a madam at a nightclub. They fall in love with each other. Meanwhile, he becomes a private tutor for a rich family, and his student falls madly in love with him. To convince him to marry their daughter, the rich family throws a party and invites his girlfriend.

In the 1980's, inflexible model student Kyung-Min (Kim Jung-Hak) joins a group that leads the student movement. In the group, he meets Soo-Jung (Ahn Mi-Na) and he falls in love with her. Kyung-Min becomes a fighter and has conflicts with his academic rival Yong-Ho (Jung Wook), who is in the center of the student movement.

Myeon-hwa is sold by her family to a wealthy man as his concubine, but she runs away with his servant. The servant does not treat her any less cruelly than his master had and Myeon-hwa is forced to weigh her options.

Soyeon goes to visit the house of her friend Jihe, who has just passed away. In her room, she will discover a stash of dildos. She will have to hide them from Jihe’s family, but all sorts of struggles will come her way.

A restaurant delivery boy witnesses the murder of his crush during an internet chat session. He becomes the prime suspect and must catch the real murderer before the police catch him.

A documentary about the 8-day sit-in struggle by GANG Cheolmin, a 22 year-old private in the South Korean army who declared his objection to military service on November 21, 2003 in order to stop the South Korean government from sending troops to Iraq, and the peace groups supporting him.

Suffering severe depression after losing her second husband, Ok-nyeo goes to live with her aunt in an effort to forget her recent past. She takes a job in a coal yard but the supervisor, Cho, after harrassing her for awhile, forces himself on her.

K (Yeon Jeong-Hun), Tatsuya (Kazuki Kitamura), Joon-Oh (Lee Ji-Hoon) and Yuuji (Kim Young-Hoon) are best friends. They work for Sung-Ho's gang in a Korean neighborhood in Japan. A power struggle over their territory erupts between their gang and the yakuza.K, Tatsuya, Joon-Oh and Yuuji try to revenge the death of a gang member, but they are soon chased by the police. As a result, Tatsuya is arrested and the relationship between Joon-Oh and K becomes frosty. Meanwhile, K robs the yakuza to bail out Tatsuya and Joon-Oh tries to find the snitch in Sung-Ho's gang. They learn that someone is behind the series of deaths of their members. A plan for revenge is set forth.

A historical melodrama about a love triangle within a group of bandits.

During the festive holidays, brothers arrive to deliver a funeral announcement, with no mourners in sight and no money to secure a burial site. Suddenly, during the Lunar New Year holiday, they receive news of their mother’s passing. The five brothers, gathered to hold the funeral, find themselves helplessly stuck in an empty mourning hall with not a single visitor.

Three people who accidentally left to Jeju Island find an old woman next to their tent - an old woman who would never wake up. As they start wondering whether the old woman is asleep or dead, it becomes more obscure whether they are concerned about or waiting for the death. Five songs drift away while the contemplation for the death. This is a film, as well as a new album of musician, Yozoh.

Life story of sexually harassed women by Japanese army, so called "comfort women" and the reflected story of Grandma, Ok-seon Lee in that period of time

A young woman, suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, develops an obsession with two men.

So Yeon, a teenager from a happy home, goes fishing one day with her father in the South Pacific Ocean and faces an accident. She is lost at sea with her pet dog, Happy and ends up in a deserted island. She believes her father will come and save her there and survives in the wilderness of the island. One day, a mass crowd of cannibals appear in the jungle and try to hurt the natives there but So Yeon saves them and they become friends. However, she can't shake off the feeling that someone is watching her.

Joo Hyeok and Joo Yeon spend an ordinary but happy day with their parents who run a small snack shop. One day, Joo Yeon goes missing with the news that a murder has occurred, and the more Joo Hyeok chases after the disappearing traces, Joo Hyeok faces unknown truths.

After serving ten years in prison for a murder he did not commit, a man is finally released. Determined to take revenge on the detective who framed him, he tracks him down—only to discover that the detective has already died.

The documentary Two Doors traces the Yongsan Tragedy of 2009, which took the lives of five evictees and one police SWAT unit member. Left with no choice but to climb up a steel watchtower in an appeal to the right to live, the evictees were able to come down to the ground a mere 25 hours after they had started to build the watchtower, as cold corpses. And the surviving evictees became lawbreakers. The announcement of the Public Prosecutors’ Office that the cause of the tragedy lay in the illegal and violent demonstration by the evictees, who had climbed up the watchtower with fire bombs, clashed with voices of criticism that an excessive crackdown by government power had turned a crackdown operation into a tragedy.

Things That Do Us Part is a documentary that reframes the stories of three women fighters who dove into a tragic war in modern Korean history, using witness statements and reenactments.

On-yoo is an adult childhood cancer survivor. When he's not practicing with his boy band, Oh-yoo often volunteers at the hospital's pediatric cancer ward. One day, he recognizes the familiar face of an overdose patient.

A young Korean-American accidently kills someone and spends the next 7 years in prison. When released, she joins up with a middle-aged Korean man looking for his wife and an illegal immigrant on the run. Together they travel to Lake Tahoe and find redemption along the way.