In Love in the Big City, viewers follow Heung-soo (NOH Sang-hyun) and Jae-hee (KIM Go-eun) through their twenties and thirties in their lives in the big city. Jae-hee is loud, open and unconventional. Therefore, she often finds herself at the center of rumors. In contrast, Heung-soo isn’t showing his individuality openly. He is gay, in the closet, and wants to keep it that way. The two meet in university, become best friends, move in together, have fun discovering Seoul’s nightlife and support each other in their respective dating lives. But they are also there for each other in emotional times. Together, they try to navigate difficulties they encounter at their young age.

Love in the Big City is based on the book of the same name by PARK Sang-young. With her film adaptation, director LEE Eon-hee manages to portray the hurdles that people of a young generation face in life, love and relationships.

Content Note: violence, homophobia, mentions and allusions to suicide 

Police officer and daredevil MA Seok-do (MA Dong-seok) is back! In the fourth installment of the Roundup series, he takes on a cruel gambling organization that is operating in the Philippines and Korea. Together with the Cyber Investigation Team, MA Seok-do hunts down the ruthless criminal BAEK Chang-gi (KIM Mu-yeol), perhaps his most threatening adversary to date… 

The Roundup: Punishment blends breathtaking action sequences with a thrilling crime story, seamlessly carrying on from the previous installments of  the series. MA Dong-seok not only stars in the film, but also produced it.

The famous investigative journalist Sang-jin (SON Suk-ku) is accused by a large company of using unethical methods in his reporting A new scandalous case comes just in time for him to regain his reputation. An informant tells him about a so-called troll factory, a group of internet users who spread fake news in online forums for the benefit of various companies and are allegedly connected to the suicide of a young woman. When Sang-jin begins his research, he poses the question of who is really behind these manipulations.

Troll Factory is the second feature film by director AHN Gooc-jin. The investigative thriller is based on the book The Comments Army by CHANG Kang-myoung and sheds light on the widespread phenomenon of so-called internet trolls in South Korea – individuals who specifically want to influence public opinion through certain postings.

SON Kee-chung (HA Jung-woo) won the marathon at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. But because Korea was under Japanese colonial rule, he had to wear the Japanese flag on his uniform. Overwhelmed by this experience, he is forced to quit running and finds himself in a place of bitterness until he meets the young runner SUH Yun-bok (IM Si-wan). In him, he sees a talented athlete, who could score a victory for Korea. Together, they train for the Boston Marathon determined to present Korea’s newly gained independence to the world.

KANG Je-kyu is mainly known for his action-filled blockbusters like Shiri and Brotherhood. In Road to Boston, the director tells a story based on true events. 

Content Note: Rasism

IM Kyu-nam (LEE Je-hoon) is a North Korean soldier who has been planning his escape to the South for a long time. However, he first must cross the demilitarization zone and survive the countless traps remaining from war. At the same time, Officer RI Hyun-sang (KOO Kyo-hwan) of the State Security Department is right on his heels. 

Director LEE Jong-pil first studied photography before discovering his passion for film and studying at the Korean National University of Arts. He had his great breakthrough in 2020 with the film Samjin Company English Class, which also screened at our festival in 2021.

A wealthy family has been plagued by a curse for generations. When the eldest son of the family becomes a father and the baby falls sick with a mysterious illness, the son decides to put an end to the curse. He asks two young shamans, Hwa-rim (KIM Go-eun) and Bong-gil (LEE Do-hyun), to exhume the grandfather’s grave and burn the casket. With the help of feng shui master Sang-doek (CHOI Min-sik) and the mortician Yeong-geun (YOO Hae-jin), they go on a journey to dig up the grave. Though Sang-doek feels uneasy about the situation, they carry out the task. However, due to bad  weather conditions, they are unable to perform the ritual and therefore cannot cremate the coffin. The horror begins.

The star-studded supernatural horror film from director JANG Jae-hyun topped the box office from its start, making Exhuma one of the most successful films in South Korea this year.

In 1598, Japanese Emperor Toyotomi Hideyoshi dies. On his deathbed he orders the Japanese troops to withdraw from Joseon, the Korean kingdom. The decorated Admiral YI Sun-shin (KIM Yoon-seok) was able to push back the Japanese naval power with his own fleet and with the help of troops from the Chinese Ming Dynasty. The shadows of the past still haunt the admiral: his family was murdered and he seeks revenge. He decides not to let the Japanese fleet leave without a final battle.

After The Admiral: Roaring Currents (2014) and Hansan: Rising Dragon (2022), Noryang: Deadly Sea is the third part of the YI Sun-sin trilogy by director KIM Han-min. The films in this series are among the most successful films of all time in South Korea and are characterized by their depiction of political intrigue and elaborately staged naval battles.

South Korea in the 1970s: Director KIM (SONG Kang-ho) has just finished work on his latest film Cobweb. But he is restless. Shortly after completing the film, he has come up with a new ending that he is convinced will turn the film into a masterpiece. Now he is doing everything he can to change the film with a two-day reshoot. Unfortunately, the producers, actors and censorship authorities are not at all happy with his plan and the film set quickly threatens to descend into chaos.

With Cobweb, director KIM Jee-woon pays tribute to the great directors of the 70s. It is the fifth film in which director KIM Jee-woon has worked with actor SONG Kang-Ho. The actor, who is now internationally acclaimed for his role in Parasite, made one of his first film appearances in 1998 in KIM Jee-woon’s debut film The Quiet Family.

1999: three strangers break into a supermarket at night, steal money and kill an elderly woman. A short time later, three boys are arrested and convicted. For many, the case seems closed, as the perpetrators are now behind bars. However, chief investigator HWANG Juncheol (SUL Kyung-gu) is convinced of the boys’ innocence and does everything he can to find out the truth. But he never thought that the police themselves would be involved in the case.

CHUNG Ji-young studied at Korea University and began his career as an assistant director. His big breakthrough as a director came in the 1990s with films such as North Korean Partisan in South Korea (1990) and White Badge (1992). The Boys is inspired by true events.

Single mother Dok-hee (RA Mi-ran) works in a laundry after losing her own in a fire. Desperately searching for a loan, she falls victim to a phishing scam. She asks Detective PARK (PARK Byung-eun) for help. However, he can do little to get her money back. When Duk-hee receives another call from the scammers, Jae-min (GONG Myoung), one of the con artists, offers to help her. He wants to serve as an informant and provide Duk-hee and the police with information to take down the criminal organization. With the help of her friends and Jae-min’s support, Duk-hee travels to China to catch the scammers.

PARK Young-ju studied creative writing and took inspiration from a true story for her film debut. Citizen of a Kind is an emotional and entertaining story of a middle-aged woman and a young man who try to help each other as best as they can. 

Korea, 1391: After endless failed attempts, LEE Ahn (KIM Tae-ri), trapped in the past, finally succeeds in gaining possession of the Divine Blade. Together with the robot Thunder (KIM Woo-bin), she tries to return to the present to save humanity from extinction at the hands of murderous aliens. The magician Muruk (RYU Jun-yeol), once LEE  Ahn’s enemy, helps her time and again. But the path back to the future is a dangerous one.

Alienoid: Return to the Future is a true sci-fi spectacle filled with time travel, aliens, magic and a star-studded cast. It is the second and final part of the Alienoid duology.

In 1979, shortly after the assassination of South Korean President PARK Chung-hee, martial law is declared. The security commander CHUN Doo-gwang (HWANG Jung-min) therefore enjoys far-reaching powers. Driven by his greed for power, he stages a coup, which is met by the resistance of commander LEE Tae-shin (JUNG Woo-sung). Among other things, his resistance leads to the coup’s violent end. 

KIM Sung-su has been working as a director for several years and is best known for his action thriller Asura: The City of Madness (2016). The film is based on true events and was a great success in South Korean cinemas. For 12.12.: The Day, KIM won the award for Best Film at the Baeksang Art Awards 2024.

The documentary Queer my Friends follows the two friends SONG Kang-won and SEO Ah-hyun over the course of five years. It focuses on two people in their thirties who are searching for a place in society. While Kang-won struggles to accept his homosexuality, his religion as a Christian and his nationality, Ah-hyun has to decide which path she wants to take in her life. 

SEO Ah-hyun studied media studies and performance/film studies and produced several short films during her time at university. Queer my Friends is SEO’s first documentary film project.

Student Da-young (PARK Seo-yoon) is tasked to write a report on her summer vacation. What begins as a simple assignment soon develops into a moving and shocking tale about her relationship with her fellow student Byung-hoon (CHOI Min-jae), their subsequent breakup, and the lies that Da-young begins to tell to win Byung-hoon back. More and more, she begins to get wrapped up in a web of untruths, from which the student can barely escape. 

Based on the  simple question “What did you do during your  summer vacation?” director SOHN Hyun-lok creates a thrilling drama about power and gender roles in South Korea with his first feature film, earning him a deserved International Film Critics Award (FIPRESCI prize) at the Busan Film Festival. 

Ms. Apocalypse takes us back to 1999, just before the turn of the millennium. Young-mi (LEE Yoo-young) works in a factory and derogatorily gets called “Ms. Apocalypse” by her colleagues because of her bizarre appearance. One day, when she manages to get close to her secret crush, a work colleague, she gets involved in his criminal scheme. In line with the doomsday atmosphere of 1999, Young-mi is arrested by the police and spends the turn of the millennium  in prison. When she is released, the real partner of her secret lover is already waiting for her. What does the future hold for Young-mi?

Ms. Apocalypse is the second film by filmmaker LIM Sun-ae and features a unique approach to  modern South Korean indie cinema. It combines Pop music, quirky designs and a story full of unexpected twists, delivering a unique blend of  satire and drama.

In 2007, young Chae-young was hospitalized with the diagnosis of anorexia. Years later, she talks to documentary filmmaker KIM Bo-ram about the reasons for her eating disorder and the process of recovery. An important role in Chae-young’s life is filled by her single mother Sang-ok, who works as a teacher and has had little time for her only daughter due to her occupation in the past. Therefore, the mother-daughter relationship also plays a special role in this documentary.

A Table for Two is the feature-length documentary debut of director KIM Bo-ram. In her film, she manages to trace the mother-daughter relationship and the path of the disease in a sensitive manner, while at the same time giving a voice to two generations of Korean women. 

Content Note: mental Illness

April, 2014: Shortly before her school trip, Ha-eun (KIM Si-eun) suffers a broken leg in a moped accident. However, her best friend, Se-mi (PARK Hye-su), tries to convince her to come on the school trip to Jeju anyway. Se-mi has dreamed that something bad will happen if Ha-eun doesn’t go and asks her to come with her. And so, the girls quickly begin to raise the money for the trip. Viewers follow them through a warm spring day, while Se-mi struggles with whether she should confess her feelings to Ha-eun… 

The plot of CHO Hyun-chul’s feature film debut often seems like a dream itself. The quiet love story between the two girls is told with a hazy, pastel-like cinematography. The film explores the complexity of the lives of the students who died in the Sewol ferry disaster on 16 April 2014. 

Yeon (JANG Sun ) takes care of her mother (YANG Mal-bok) who suffers from dementia. Additionally, she also tries to have an active dating life and meets up with “Blanket,” a young woman from the Internet. However, when her mother gets increasingly worse, Yeon seeks help from her sisters and the siblings have to make an important decision. Just when it looks like things are finally looking up, they go downhill. 

Up close and emotional, Wintering showcases how important family is and that each family member struggles with their own problems. 

YANG Mi-ja (YOON Jeong-hee) is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at the age of 66 and is advised by her doctor to keep physically and mentally fit. Therefore, she enrolls in a poetry course at the adult education center with the aim of writing a poem by the end of the summer. At the same time, a schoolgirl in Mi-ja’s small town commits suicide. Mi-ja discovers that her grandson has something to do with the girl’s death and wants to find out more about the reasons for the incident.

Poetry is LEE Chang-dong’s third directorial work and his biggest international success until then. His collaboration with actress YOON Jeong-hee, who died in 2023, is remarkable, as YOON herself suffered from advanced dementia and therefore played the role with particular effort. The film has won numerous renowned film awards

In Dog Days, an episodic ensemble film, the lives of several people are shown through the lens of their relationships with dogs. The plot revolves around various characters who struggle with personal challenges and emotional problems and find solace and joy in life through their dogs. Among others, the initially cold-hearted Min-sang (YOO Hae-jin) struggles with a dog clinic that has opened in one of his houses, an elderly architect (YOUN Yuh-jung) goes in search of her lost dog, and an adopted girl finally opens up to her new family with help of a dog.

In this remake of the 2018 American film Dog Days, the strong ensemble of actors is particularly impressive, including Oscar winner YOUN Yuh-jung.

The film begins with the suicide of the protagonist Young-ho (SOL Kyung-gu) in 1999, who in a now famous scene stands in front of a train and shouts the words ‘I want to go back!’. The film then takes the audience on a journey into Young-ho’s past and to the origins of his trauma. In six chapters, various stages of modern South Korean history are visited in reverse chronology and told from Young-ho’s view. From the economic crisis in 1997 to the Gwangju uprising in 1980.

LEE Chang-dong’s film Peppermint Candy impressively shows how a social trauma developed from the experiences of violence during the military dictatorship.

Mimang is an episodic film that recounts the experiences of a group of young people in Seoul. The structure of the film is based on the three meanings of the word Mimang: it describes disorientation or ignorance, the inability to forget and to keep or to fix something in mind. In the film’s many dialogues, the characters reflect on their situation in life and take the audience on a journey through the nightlife of the South Korean capital.

Mimang is a quietly told arthouse drama. The film is the feature film debut of director KIM Tae-yang and was shot on location in Seoul over the course of four years.

This film depicts the perilous escape attempts from one of the world’s most oppressive regimes. LEE Hyeon-seo, who escaped North Korea 20 years ago, shares her shocking testimony. LEE So-yeon, a mother who fled but left her son behind, struggles to reunite with him. A family of five risks everything to cross the border, aided by Pastor KIM Seung-eun, who helps them leave the land they once believed was paradise.

Director Madeleine Gavin masterfully documents these stories, revealing the human rights abuses in North Korea. The film’s gripping narrative earned it accolades at the Sundance Film Festival and the Sydney Film Festival.

One morning, Ki-young (KIM Young-sung), a simple laborer, finds 16-year old Gi-lho (CHOI Joon-woo) sleeping on the street in front of his apartment and takes the boy in for the night. The next evening, Gil-ho is at Ki-young’s door again and asks to stay with him. When Ki-young offers him a place to stay, a friendship develops between the two of them. Gil-ho opens up to Ki-young and tells him about his violent stepfather. Ki-young sees his own troubled past in the boy. But when Gil-ho’s friends visit him in Ki-young’s apartment, the trust between the two begins to crumble. 

Big Sleep is the feature film debut of director KIM Tae-hoon. In the film, he impressively conveys the lack of perspective that young people can feel. With the relationships between the characters, he creates an emotionality that captivates the viewers.

After the loss of her husband, Hwa-ja (CHA Mi-kyung) had to raise her three daughters alone in Busan. When Hye-young (HAN Seon-hwa), the middle daughter, returns to her hometown for her father’s memorial day, she finds an old Japanese letter in her mother’s apartment. As the three sisters try to unravel the letter’s secrets, the story unfolds into a touching family portrait. Eventually, the sisters bring their mother’s tragic past to light. Through an empathetic narrative style, the viewers experience Korean family life and the deep bonds between mothers and daughters.

In her debut film, director KIM Min-ju depicts an autobiographical story and a love letter to her hometown, Busan.