In 1944, in the mountainous village of Vermiglio in northern Italy, lives the only teacher in the village and his big family. Their quiet life is disrupted by Pietro, a reserved soldier who arrives in the village to escape the war. Lucia, the eldest daughter, falls in love with Pietro, while her sensitive younger sister observes and grapples with growing pains. The son, eager for his father’s approval, becomes restless, and the still innocent younger children view the secret-filled world of adults with curious eyes. The love that blossoms between Lucia and Pietro almost feels like a MacGuffin, as the film’s unwavering focus is on life itself—fleeting, painful, and yet full of gratitude—with a reminder that life always accompanies death. The film’s stunning cinematography, capturing the majestic landscapes of northern Italy, is by Mikhail Krichman, known for his work on Leviathan (2014) and Loveless (2017). (LEE Juhyun)

The father, who “ran, ran, and flew” from the source of the Mekong River, sings to his young daughter. Yangchen, who lives in India, meets with her sister, who has returned from France for their mother’s funeral, and reveals the wounds she could not share with their parents. After a brief encounter with his old friend Jigdal, who has come from America, Thangka artist Sonam suddenly feels as though his simple life is too shabby. And Tenzin who lives in Wisconsin arrives in Dharamsala, where he spent his childhood, carrying his father’s ashes. State of Statelessness is an omnibus film that tells the stories of Tibetans in Vietnam, India, and the United States in Tibetan language and features four works by Tibetan diaspora artists. Neither the place they live now nor the place they fled long ago feels like home. So they sing, “If only the river could flow upstream.” (CHOI Eun)

Misericordia is a philosophical film noir by Alain Guiraudie that stands comparison with the works of Claude Chabrol and Robert Bresson. The movie is a prime example of the eccentric and imaginative world of director Alain Guiraudie. Jérémie returns to his village to attend the funeral of his former boss, a baker. Back in his old environment, he encounters old friends and feels the resurgence of desires and violence he harbored during his youth. In Misericordia, the dark and damp autumn forest becomes an astonishing stage. People there pick peculiar mushrooms, engage in fights, and bury corpses. In this primordial setting, moral questions are raised: “To what extent can ‘forgiveness’ be possible in the face of society and justice?” For Alain Guiraudie, mercy is not merely a dimension of forgiveness. It is a concept that transcends all morals, embodying understanding and empathy towards others. (SEO Seunghee)

“So soon as the time for ploughing is proclaimed to men, then make haste, you and your slaves alike.” Works and Days opens with this quote from Hesiod’s epic poem and makes the poem’s title its own. The film indeed portrays various workers who head to their workplaces as soon as the sun rises—they make mannequins, sort recycled plastics, prepare side dishes, sweep salt fields, inspect cans, and repair radios. The protagonists of Works and Days are ordinary people like us. As we listen to their intimate voices sharing their anxieties, joys, loneliness, fears, and dreams, we become deeply immersed in their lives. What stands out most about Works and Days is its clear and concise perspective on labor. Free of sentimentality, this pure, unembellished gaze offers a rare and precious insight. (KANG Sowon)

Some moments in life are decided in a flash. Life and death can be separated by a few seconds, and a stranger’s actions can change the present of another’s life. Aimitagai focuses on such chain reactions of fate. Azusa and Kanami have been best friends since high school. After Kanami dies in an unexpected accident, Azusa despairs yet finds comfort in sending text messages to Kanami’s cellphone. Kanami’s parents wonder about Azusa’s identity, and upon visiting the orphanage that their dead daughter cared about, are moved by her good deeds. The dead do not come back to life, but their traces shake people’s hearts in various ways, and small, good deeds come together to make the world a place worth living. Kuroki Haru, who appeared in Sleepeeer Hit! (2016) and Okiku and the World (2023), expresses the delicate emotions of the protagonist Azusa. The film is charming with the elaborate rhetoric of Kusano Shogo, who directed What She Likes... (2021). (NAM Dong-chul)

In Zambia and everywhere else in the world, the distress of the weak is often disregarded for the sake of the community. On a dark highway, Shula stumbles across a corpse that turns out to be her mother’s brother. In preparations for the funeral, Shula and her cousins must cook for the elderly male relatives, pursue another cousin who is clearly unwell because of the dead uncle, and turn a blind eye to family members accusing the poor widow. On Becoming a Guinea Fowl may seem like a familiar coming home story, but it is Rungano Nyoni’s unapologetic and rigorous direction that makes it stand out. As repeated lies become the truth, ugly family secrets resurface and Shula’s nightmares bubble with anger. Like guinea fowls crying to warn against predators, the young women unify to protect one another. (Karen PARK)

Francisco, a grumbling school teacher experiences an existential crisis on his thirtieth birthday. He contracts a severe case of measles like a child, and ends up confined to a countryside house under the care of seven men. Who are these seven men? His childhood friends? Or the seven dwarves from a fairy tale? Are they real people, or just figments of his imagination? This dreamlike film, The Face You Deserve, blends comedy, musical, theater, fairy tale, and adventure, suggests returning to childhood is impossible. At times, the seven authoritative boyish men reveal to Francisco that childhood is not a lost paradise, but an anxious world from which he must move beyond. In his debut feature The Face You Deserve, which established him as one of Portugal’s most promising director, Miguel Gomes explores the theme of Saudade (a Portuguese word for nostalgia, gentle melancholy, and a sense of longing) that would later become one of his favorite themes. (SEO Seunghee)

The internationally renowned author Baek Heena’s picture book Magic Candies has been adapted into a short animation by Japan’s major film studio Toei Animation. This is a rare opportunity to experience Baek Heena’s exceptional imagination, whose original work was close to an animation itself. (NAM Dong-chul)

* Based on Korean Picture Books Magic Candies & I am a Dog by BAEK Heena (Korean author)

Master of thrillers Jacques Audiard brings women and female actors to the forefront in Emilia Perez, exploring the theme of transgender identity. The story follows a former drug cartel boss from Mexico who decides to undergo gender reassignment surgery and becomes Emilia Perez. Emilia transforms into the founder of an association dedicated to locating the bodies of thousands of Mexicans killed by Narcos. Emilia Perez is a remarkable blend of thriller and comedic musical, with Carla Sofía Gascon delivering an unforgettable performance as Emilia and Zoe Saldana playing Rita, the protagonist’s supportive lawyer. The Avatar star once again proves her exceptional talent as a singer and dancer in Emilia Perez. Portraying Emilia Perez’s unique fate with elegance, Audiard pays homage to the musical, colorful, and melodramatic aspects of Mexican culture, creating one of his boldest films yet. (SEO Seunghee)

Following Afternoon Landscape (2020) and Night Walk (2023), Sohn Koo-yong presents his third feature documentary. A cinematic wanderer who savors spaces and finds poetry in nature, Sohn ventures into a park this time with Oh Kyu-won’s poem The Breath of the Garden in his hand. As the 24-verse poem that begins with the line “At 2 in the afternoon, a butterfly fluttered close to the ground” appears as text on the screen, at the park, a bird settles down on a branch, clouds cover the sun, a cat washes its face, a water wheel turns, a fountain sprays water, a koi swims across the pond, and ants diligently go about their work. This “230 square meters of universe,” where the world of text and image merge seamlessly, is perfectly complete in its meaningful meaninglessness. Sohn presents a world that glimmers with fragile transparency, using the repetition, variation, and circulation of minimal things. The film captures a walker’s world, both empty and full at once. (KANG Sowon)

A distant view of a densely packed residential neighborhood. Suddenly, a scream is heard from somewhere. After this intriguing opening scene, we see a middle school boy and his younger sister, an elementary school girl, getting ready for school in a messy house with no adults around. In another house in the village, a high school boy is living alone in a desolate home. Fragment follows the children of both the perpetrator and the victim, left alone in the world after a murder claimed their parents. The film breathlessly alternates between their lives, highlighting the contradictory and brutal existence they’ve been burdened with. Both sides evoke pity and sorrow, and as we switch between them, we are swept up in a torrent of emotions. Embracing unbearable misfortune, these seemingly incompatible vulnerable souls endure their lonely nights, and then, a kind of miracle happens. (JUNG Hanseok)