Korean-Uzbek Stas was once a taekwondo master and is a popular resident in hisneighborhood. But when he begins to dabble in drug use with his friends, he heads down a path that will cost him everything he values. His friends begin to die either under violent circumstances or by their own hands, and the fundamentally corrupt society offers little hope for redemption. Fueled by begging at his most desperate moment, Stas heads out for the unfamiliar lands of Korea: a dream of the Promised Land, Hanaan. Can Stas find Hanaan, a place where there is no lies and betrayal? Ruslan PAK has arough but realistic take on loneliness and the sense of alienation that strangers with only a wisp of connection to a place, as mere descendents, must face. Hanaan’s vivid and naturalistic direction gives it the veracity of a documentary or of a film cast with nonprofessional actors. It is why the film’s reality, which cannot be predicted or promised, feels cold and bitter. (PARK Sungho)