Synopsis

Born in South Korea, but adopted by Dutch parents and raised in the Netherlands, Mieke lives happily as a queer woman with her partner in the city of Utrecht. But when her guilt-ridden birth parents reach out to her after years of separation, Mieke’s life is upended. She  must come to grips with who she is, and also who she might have been — made all the more complex by the entrenched homophobia that still exists in South Korean society.

Filmmaker Jota Mun — themself a Korean adoptee — traces Mieke’s story, recounting the events leading up to her reunion and observing her ongoing internal conflicts about her birth parents and where she belongs. Equally affecting is the film’s sympathetic focus on Mieke’s vulnerable mother Okgyun, who desperately seeks forgiveness for giving her daughter up for adoption. Beautifully conceived and profoundly multilayered, Between Goodbyes is a heartbreaking and uplifting story of family, identity, and acceptance.

Synopsis

An overwhelmed new mother partners with two baby traffickers to find the perfect well-paying parents for her infant in this heartbreaking human story.

Synopsis

Sohee, an overachieving high schooler, is optimistic about her future. After accepting an internship at a call center, she’s thrown into a chaotic world of grueling hours, crippling expectations, and low pay. Under mounting pressure, she takes her own life. Police detective Yoo-Jin begins an all-consuming investigation into Sohee’s tragic death. This ripped-from-the-headlines social procedural is a gripping condemnation of modern working culture.

Synopsis

Caught between pursuing his passion and settling for a “real” job, struggling actor Jihoon takes up a gig patrolling the streets of Seoul at night. A serendipitous meeting with Eunyoung, a kindred spirit also facing a personal crisis, turns into a reflective, intimate stroll through the city’s twilight hours. Beautiful black-and-white photography creates a stunning portrait of the city by night that is also a poetic meditation on love and life.

Synopsis

1801. When a new king ascends the throne, scholar Jeong Yak-Jeon is exiled to a remote island for incorporating Christianity into his Confucian teachings. There, he becomes fascinated with the awesome variety of sea creatures caught by the island’s fishermen and, with one local’s help, authors an encyclopedia of the underwater world. Based on Jeong’s life and Book of Fish, the film is a sweeping account of 19th century Korea and a tender portrait of an unlikely friendship.