Synopsis

Jinwoo, a Korean American, returns to Seoul amid an escalating global crisis. Despite being exempt from service, he’s determined to enlist in the military and join the Korean soldiers being sent overseas. Awaiting his deployment day, he spends his time wandering the city’s winding streets, reconnecting with old friends and trying to win the approval of his stern, reserved father. A quiet tension builds as the big day approaches, and Jinwoo begins to question his decision.

Chicago-based director James Choi composes his images with a rare sensitivity, combining unconventional cityscapes with subtle, understated performances to cultivate a contemplative mood. A profound meditation about identity, duty, and the difficulty of choosing a path when the distinction between right and wrong is anything but clear.

Synopsis

Dark comedy meets despair in Park Chan-wook’s latest thriller satirizing the social pressure and shrinking industries facing today’s workers in South Korea and beyond. Squid Game’s Lee Byung-hun stars as Man-soo, a long-time Solar Paper employee whose sense of self is imperiled after he abruptly loses his job.

Terrified that the trappings of success—professional recognition, handsome home, loving family—will slip from his grasp, he searches for a new role as bills begin piling up. At his wit’s end, he hatches a scheme to identify, then eliminate, his competition for the last remaining position in specialty papers. With mounting absurdity and desperation, Man-soo lures his rivals into his deadly trap using the empty promise of employment in their all-but-obsolete industry, convincing himself at every turn of the truth behind the film’s title: that he has no other choice.

Brought to life by Park’s singular talent for masterfully depicting the bleakest situations, the director’s latest is further animated by a compelling turn from his leading man that is equal parts heartbreaking and unhinged.

Synopsis

Donghwa (Ha Seongguk), a thirty-something poet, is committed to living a life of beauty and simplicity. One afternoon, he drives his girlfriend Junee (Kang Soyi) to her parents’ home just outside of Seoul. There, he meets her father (played by Hong Sangsoo mainstay Kwon Haehyo) for the first time—a generally affable goofball who develops a strange fixation for Donghwa’s car. A quick spin around the block leads to an invitation to dinner and a chance to meet the rest of the family. A lazy afternoon slips into a drunken evening, and everything starts to unravel as Donghwa’s idealistic confidence begins to fray.

A bitterly comic fable about life, art, and the desire to live simply, What Does That Nature Say to You is a rich and revealing character portrait. Festival mainstay Hong Sangsoo (By the Stream) deploys his trademark long takes and keen narrative intuition to chart the comeuppance of his quixotic protagonist.

Synopsis

The award-winning shorts of CineYouth 2025 showcase the talent and vision of eight young filmmakers from around the world. Fast-paced action-comedy, timely documentary, cheerful animation, and body horror help comprise this genre-spanning program. Join us immediately after the screening for a celebratory mixer in the Festival Filmmakers’ Lounge.

Diagnosed with terminal insomnia, Cillian obsessively builds a time machine to escape death in the The Mechanization of Man. Perfect Casting follows the founding of an unlikely friendship. How to Smell Without a Nose is a dark and impactful short about the Korean war, illustrated through the prosecution of a Joseon woman. April struggles for self-expression in Arm and a Leg. In the action comedy Check Please, a Korean and a Korean-American fight over their pride, honor, and who gets to pick up the tab. A mother and daughter cope with grief in Chiquita Piconera. An evil king holds a princess captive in Paper Love. In Hey Hugo, a well-loved family man waits in prison for his conviction to be overturned.

Synopsis

How to Smell Without a Nose is a dark and impactful short about the Korean war illustrated through the prosecution of a Joseon woman. Striking horror effects and committed performances created a palpable sense of dread.

This film screens as part of the Best of CineYouth 2025 shorts program.