A massive earthquake in the Northern part of the divided Gangwon-do sends thousands of North Koreans flocking down to South Korea. A temporary refugee camp named GATE45 is set up below the demilitarized zone in Goseong to host the refugees, who are given a 30-day grace period before deciding on their intended return locations. A “Jigap(Wallet),” or a North Korean operator responsible for finances, sneaks into the camp, and a series of unpredictable events follow.
A front-line outpost in Yanggu, Gangwon-do, has long been shut down due to the urban legend that soldiers falling asleep there during night guard duty are possessed by ghosts and defect to the North. When the other functional outpost is destroyed, however, the troops are left with no choice but to use the haunted one. Inexplicable events ensue, and the platoon leader turns to Won-il, a former shaman, for help. Won-il reveals the presence of a spirit of a North Korean soldier killed in the Korean War.
GO Sari holds a high-rank belt in Taekwondo but has zero dating experience. Her father GO Yeong-bok, who had eloped ten years ago with the father of Jae-wook, Sari’s first crush, returns home. Stray cats are found dead around the neighborhood, and residents, anxious that the incident will negatively affect reconstruction plans of the area, point their angry fingers at “Lady Googoo” and Yeong-bok. This may be her chance to take revenge, but Sari knows all too well that those two are about the last people on earth able to commit such horrific act. Together with her younger brother Go Nam and their sarcastic mother CHO Jeong-in, she embarks on a mission to track down the real perpetrator behind the killings.
In March 2021, images and video footage of burnt houses, blood-stained stairways and other scenes of violence arrive at the desk of translator CHOI Jin-bae, who was one of KOICA volunteers dispatched to Myanmar four years earlier. People of Myanmar desperately wanted the world to know what was going on in their country. Nyein Thazin, a Myanmarese studying in Korea, hears of the military coup, with her own father in Mandalay relaying news of the ongoing brutal crackdown by the military. She decides to stand with rebel groups and support their anti-coup movement. Based on the diary of the two, this documentary presents a vivid portrayal of the people fighting for democracy and the junta’s ruthless repression on them.
Bong-yeol, a former boxer, and In-won, an art major, are among the troops dispatched to Vietnam in 1968. Their mission: guard a film set where shooting is in progress. While the idea of filming a movie in the heart of real warfare sounds crazy, the two soldiers are immediately drawn to Baek-seol, a beautiful, confident Vietnamese woman they meet at the scene. Despite danger and difficulty, the filming continues, and the two men grow more attached to their job. On the eve of the Tet Offensive, Baek-seol disappears… Miss Saigon is a theatrical adaptation inspired by the Korean war film Female Viet Cong No.18 (1967), which was actually shot on location during the Vietnam War.
In the year 1948, under the U.S. Army Military Government, Major Kim Kyoo-seok of the 1st Regiment of the Korean Constabulary is a man of great ambition, who would do anything to gain the trust of the U.S. Army. Kim receives an order to defend assassination suspects at a court-martial. The suspects from the Jeju 11 Regiment have allegedly shot their Colonel to death. Kyoo-seok is completely disinterested in the truth, as he is told to just be there for the proceeding's sake. But the facts of the matter are revealed with the involvement of Lee Un-kyeong, a private lawyer, that the killing was carried out in a bid to stop civilian mass killings. Kim is now determined to fight for the defendants more than ever.
This hybrid animated documentary by JUNG Henin is a Korea-France joint production. The project started as part of the art education workshops for adolescents held at the Annecy and the Bucheon film festivals. Looking at images selected from Jung’s autobiographical debut film Skin Color: Honey, teens are encouraged to talk about issues of family and identity, and explore the meaning of adolescence and the transition to adulthood, together and on their own. Included in the director’s future plan: to bring his teenage children, who are leading a diasporic life between Europe and Asia, with their Korean counterparts so they can talk about similarities and differences.
Fifty years ago, my grandmother stowed away to Japan alone, leaving her three-year old son at home. At a funeral of an old relative, my father and his mother meet for the first time in a few decades. Hailing from Tokyo with a chic scarf on, the mother tells her long-estranged son in the Jeju dialect: “Consider your mom dead.”
Out of a newfound curiosity, I interview members of my expanded family in front of the camera. Reluctantly, they start opening up about the past, sharing the hurtful memories related to my grandmother. One calls her “a bad mom” while another argues she “does not even deserve to be a mother.” I see glimpses of Korea’s painful modern history in their accounts, coupled with hard feelings toward the old lady who ran away secretly. I start my search for a key to healing the wounds. Will my family be able to let go of the idea of an ideal mother?
A look at the 50 year life of the baseball player Jang Myeong-boo. Looked-down upon as a “Zainich” in Japan, resented as a “half-Jap” in Korea, life was not kind to Jang at all. Still, he always tried to rise above the discrimination. Unlike Jang, the director was born and raised in Korea. Only after he crossed over to a foreign country did he come face to face with deeply rooted bias. At first, he loses heart in the face of hatred. Soon, he finds hope in baseball, which leads him to a journey following the footsteps of the controversial player, whose life ended just like “a fallen leaf in the sea.”
Nine-year-old Sahar, who lost her mother and older sister in the war, is a Yemeni refugee who came to Jeju with her father in 2018. One day, she gets to watch the musical “The Wizard of Oz,” and for the first time in her life, she has a dream: to become a musical star! A few days later, Sahar hears that a public audition for “The Wizard of Oz” will be held in Seoul. Sahar is blocked from leaving the island of Jeju due to her refuge status, but alas, she ends up crossing the line… in this boisterous musical comedy.
In the year 202X, the Doomsday Clock is ticking. Happy Ending Motel in Gangneung is holding an event where randomly selected people are invited to spend their last four days on Earth at the facility free of charge. Gathered in the motel are six individuals with diverse backgrounds, including an online con artist and a gymnastics national team member and survivor of sexual assault. Putting fears aside for a while, the guests engage in a program prepared by the motel’s employees, each seeking to plant an “apple tree” of their own. Will the world really come to an end? The secret is to be revealed.
An elderly lady going by the name Lee Gi-in sits down in front of a bulldozer, her tiny stature blocking the way of the heavy equipment. Next to her, a dump truck keeps filling the paddy field, burying her “rear land” for a redevelopment plan. The County of Cheorwon has expropriated a portion of Lee’s property in order to create a “Modern Culture Street Theme Park.” Nothing changes despite her efforts that include a meeting with the County Mayor and a one-man protest before the Blue House. As a last resort, Lee turns to farming on the land as a way of resistance. While planting rice seedlings under the sun, she remembers one particular day 70 years ago when a U.N. bullet flew over the head of her 17-year old self. The war may just not be over for her yet.