Okuyama Hiroshi, who won an award at the San Sebastián Film Festival with his debut film Jesus (2018), returns with his second feature. My Sunshine explores the special bond between a boy and a girl captivated by figure skating and their figure skating coach. Takuya, a member of an ice hockey team, lacks passion for the sport. One day, he becomes enchanted after watching Sakura figure skate. The figure skating coach, noticing Takuya’s interest, suggests he join Sakura for ice dancing lessons. As the three practice in preparation for a competition, they encounter an unexpected challenge. Ikematsu Sosuke, from films like Killing (2021) and Okiku and the World (2023), plays the coach in this film that provides a nuanced portrayal of the characters’ emotions. Scenes of the actors skating to Debussy’s “Clair de Lune” leave a lasting impression of this poignant story. The director himself trained in figure skating for seven years in his childhood. (NAM Dong-chul)

A couple on the brink of breaking up decide to spend one last day together to resuscitate their relationship until sunrise at an inn on the East coast. With just 15 minutes left until sunrise, they wait—perhaps for a breakup or the end of the world. This minimalist film, set in a confined space and filled with close-ups of the two actors, tells a story about light. (KANG Sowon)

Jin Joo-seok works as an insert director on a commercial movie set. When Ma Chu-hyun, who has a strange aura, joins the film team, the two become close and spend the night together. However, the next day, Ma Chu-hyun gets angry with Jin Joo-seok for some reason. Afterwards, Jin Joo-seok waits for Ma Chu-hyun with a longing heart. This is the second feature film by director Lee Jong-su, who was invited to the New Currents section and won the KB New Currents Audience Award with Heritage (2023). Like in his previous work, sudden dark humor continues to shine in this film. The unpredictable and distinctive characters are also charming. The film creates an unfamiliar rhythm with witty dialogue, situations, and irregular twists, occasionally suddenly stopping to capture beautiful landscapes and portraits from time to time. It is a sarcastic commentary on cinema, yet above all, a poignant, biting, and charming love story. (JUNG Hanseok)

Pierre, a railroad worker, is raising his two sons alone. His eldest, Fus, who loves soccer, has become secretive as he starts hanging out with far-right friends, while his younger son, Louis, is about to study at the Sorbonne in Paris. The once close-knit family begins to unravel due to Fus’ wayward behaviors. Pierre tries to reason with his son, who is becoming increasingly violent under the influence of totalitarian ideologies, but to no avail. Eventually, a terrible tragedy befalls the family. The director does not equip Fus with sophisticated language filled with political ideologies and beliefs but rather gives him the body as a tool to express these ideas through intense physicality—sports, dance, and fights. When Fus dances in a trance-like state and others start to appear around him, colliding and dancing wildly, it becomes clear that their movements are not just dance. The performances by Vincent Lindon as Pierre and Benjamin Voisin as Fus leave long-lasting impressions. (LEE Juhyun)

The insufferable yet endearing prosecutor Dongjae is back. Dongjae, The Good or The Bastard, a spin-off series of Stranger, follows the struggles of Seo Dongjae (Lee Jun-hyuk), a prosecutor burdened by the stigma of being labeled as a ‘sponsor prosecutor.’ Despite consistently being overlooked for promotions and denied opportunities to handle major cases, Dongjae finds a chance for a breakthrough. However, with every opportunity comes risk, and during his investigation, he encounters Nam Wanseong (Park Sung-woong) from the corrupt Ihong Construction. Confronted with Nam’s past wrongdoings, Dongjae must navigate the dangerous tightrope between his instincts as a prosecutor and his opportunistic nature. The show brings out the full charm of the character Seo Dongjae as a petty and tenacious realist, and the actors’ clever performances add delightful nuance to the story. (SONG Kyung-won)

Director Ryu Hyung-seok, who served as a conscripted firefighter during his mandatory military service, made a documentary about firefighters. Responding to calls from those on the edge of life and death, these modern-day heroes at the Yangsan Firestation and Ulsan Fire Headquarters are the focus of The First Responders. Without voiceover narration or interview shots, the film captures not only the team’s work and daily lives, but also their inner darkness, desires, and the difficult fate inherent in their profession. Here, the camera is not simply a tool for recording but is one of them, acting as their eyes. “Just strip away all emotion and focus on what you need to do,” one firefighter says, and the documentary mirrors this approach, moving steadily forward without being swept up by emotional waves. Yet the film inevitably reaches heart-warming moments. This documentary offers an exceptionally humanistic insight into the profession. (KANG Sowon)

Seventeen-year-old Ze attends a modern school in Ulaanbaatar, while also leading a traditional life as a shaman and communing with ancestral spirits. Unlike his older sister, who is grappling with the gap between urban life and traditions, Ze appears to maintain a good balance. When he goes to perform a rite for Maralaa, a rebellious and unstable girl of his age who is about to undergo surgery, he finds himself drawn to her, igniting a desire within him. City of Wind centers on the teenage protagonists on the cusp of adulthood and questions the values and the boundaries between individual desires and communal responsibilities, tradition and modern, urban and rural, and realistic life and spiritual life. The uncertainties, confusion, and loneliness that the teens face in this film reflect the anxieties of Mongolia’s youth in a society undergoing rapid changes. The film won the Orizzonti Best Actor Award at the 2023 Venice Film Festival. (HONG Soin)

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)

Director Yamanaka Yoko was invited to the Forum section of the Berlin Film Festival with her debut work Amiko (2017), which she made at the age of 20. The lead actress, Kawai Yuumi, says that meeting Yamanaka Yoko after watching Amiko as a teenager was her first experience of conversing with a film director. Kawai Yuumi later appeared in It’s a Summer Film (2020), A Balance (2020), Plan 75 (2022), and finally reunited with Yamanaka Yoko in Desert of Namibia. It’s an impressive work that requires a special trust relationship between the director and the actress, featuring performances that expose everything about herself without defense. 21-year-old Kana appears to be a young woman living without much thought. She doesn’t have any ambitions for the future, her affection for her boyfriend is questionable, and she doesn’t seem satisfied with her current job. She is not someone who would easily win over many people, as she sometimes erupts into hysteria, as if she has built up anger inside. The charm of Desert of Namibia lies in examining her closely, even more closely, and finding commonalities between her and us. The film is a good example of character exploration that can’t be guessed easily. (NAM Dong-chul)

Se-eun is a janitor who is always the first to arrive at the pool where she works. One day, she runs into an old friend who is now a swimming instructor. As her friend prepares for maternity leave, she rekindles Se-eun’s forgotten dreams, sparking her attempt to transform her workplace into the field of her aspirations. This is a compelling story of a woman who turns her weaknesses into strengths. (KANG Sowon)

It’s hard to look away from the secretive and interconnected events that unfold. Gangnam B-Side is a crime thriller set against the backdrop of the glamorous Gangnam nightlife, where a series of mysterious disappearances occur. When Jae-hui (Kim Hyungseo) - a well-known hostess at a popular Gangnam nightclub who holds the key to the secrets of these disappearances - goes missing, various characters with different motives and goals become involved in the pursuit of the truth. These include Detective Kang Dong-u (Jo Woojin), who has just returned from demotion, Prosecutor Min Seo-jin (Ha Younkyoung), who sees the case as a stepping stone for her career, and Gangnam outlaw Yoon Gil-ho (Ji Changwook), who voluntarily places himself under suspicion. Gangnam B-Side skillfully unravels the complex web of these characters’ intertwined interests through a gripping narrative and intense, immersive scenarios. The standout performances of the cast bring out the unique personalities of each character, making this a highly polished chase crime drama that transforms the familiar into something refreshingly new. (SONG Kyung-won)

“Why did you do it?” is the question that Jungsik(Lee Sun-kyun) asks his sister-in-law Eunmo(Seo Woo) on two occasions in Paju, and maybe that’s what the movie wants to ask him too. After a failed first love and being wanted for student activism, Jungsik finds himself in the foggy city of Paju. There, he marries Eunsoo(Shim Yi-young), and they start a new life together with Eunsoo’s younger sister Eunmo, but he remains vague, elusive, and distant. His gestures are those of resignation and exhaustion, as if he’s just holding on to what’s in front of him, what he can do, while being weighed down by a deep sense of loss and unshakeable guilt. When this opaque man, who rarely reveals his inner self, speaks the words from his heart to Eunmo, it becomes a mystery of life that cannot be solved or fathomed. The expressionless face of Jungsik, played by Lee Sun-kyun, causes great ripples and eventually leads us into the abyss. (JEONG Jihye)