We continue with out list of short films that you shouldn’t miss at the Seoul Independent Film Festival, running from November 28 to December 6, 2024, in Seoul, South Korea.

Glass Wall by PARK Juhwan – South Korea | 2024 – 32 minutes

“Hee mang(‘hope’)-ville,”, a village visible yet hidden, was formed when evacuees and victims of the Korean War were resettled after the country’s liberation. Over time, due to the proliferation of brothels, it became colloquially known as “Hee mae(‘sell’)-ville”(prostitution area). Despite this transformation and stigma, long-term residents continue to call this place home, their lives intertwined with a community that outsiders recognize only as a red-light district. (SIFF 2024)

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Grade Appeals by KIM Geon – South Korea | 2024 – 33 minutes

There is a student who cannot accept her grades. She cancels plans with friends and waits for the professor. (SIFF 2024)

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Hansel: Two School Skirts by LIM Jisun – South Korea | 2024 – 29 minutes

Just before music class, where students are routinely made to sing infront of class as punishment, Hansel realizes she forgot her recorder at home. Dreading the thought of singing in front of her classmates more than death itself, Hansel desperately runs home to get her recorder, but due to her urinary incontinence, she begins to leak urine. (SIFF 2024)

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In Invisible City by LEE Chae-min – South Korea | 2024 – 26 minutes | World Premiere

The invisible ‘I’ searches for postcards and letters, and eventually takes a train to the industrial city of Ulsan. ‘I’ wanders around the Gongeoptap (Ulsan Industrial Center Monument) area and the Bangudae Petroglyphs (Prehistoric rock carvings in Ulsan), then writes a letter to someone from a place with a view of the factories. (SIFF 2024)

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kids on parallel lines by Jeong Eun-Su – South Korea | 2024 – 20 minutes | World Premiere

The main character, Ji-heon (female, 17), runs down the hallway every morning because she doesn’t want to share the elevator with Hyun-min (male, 18), who lives upstairs in the same apartment. The one who doesn’t want to face Hyun-min is Hyun-min’s father, the mother’s lover. They seem to be trying to take their mother away from Ji-heon. Then, Ji-heon witnesses his mother’s attendance as Hyun-min’s mother during the parent interview at the school. (SIFF 2024)

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One Day Blues by KIM Jin – South Korea | 2023 – 23 minutes

Eun-ah in her 20s, who has yet to become independent or get a job after graduating from college, comes to Changwon, a strange city to meet her friend. But she loses her cell phone as soon as she arrives in Changwon. (SIFF 2024)

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Pollock by YOU Isu – South Korea | 2024 – 30 minutes

Cheongho-dong was originally an uninhabited and barren area, but after the Korean War a settlement village was founded by displaced people from North Korea. Since the war, it has been a fishing center with numerous pollock fishing boats, but today pollock is disappearing due to environmental changes and the fishing industry is declining.

It’s a cold winter in Cheongho-dong. The construction site of an apartment complex nearing completion and the pollock drying grounds heralding the fishing season are bustling with activity. When Yeong Hwa learns that her colleague’s son, Jin-chul, has gone missing, she tries to help her, but the more she tracks his whereabouts, the more her suspicions about her own son, Seok Hun, grow. (SIFF 2024)

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REC by AHN Seo-yearn – South Korea | 2024 – 20 minutes

A film director, ‘Unnie’ (term for older sister), has a habit of using the stories of people around her for making her movies. Fed up and furious, her ‘Dongseng’ (term for younger sister) decides that it’s time to fight back. (SIFF 2024)

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School Trip by LEE Yun-seok – South Korea | 2024 – 25 minutes

To live, one must prove their poverty, but to survive, one must hide it. Ji-eun (16) continues her school life while hiding the fact that she’s a basic welfare recipient. As she lives each day concealing herself, her last middle school field trip approaches. She could go on the field trip for free if she applies for basic welfare recipient assistance, but she can’t bring herself to apply. She’s afraid her friends might find out. That’s when Ji-eun sees her mother Mi-hyun at her workplace, stealing money because of her. The film looks back at our childhoods which weren’t always beautiful. (SIFF 2024)

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string pieces by KIMLEE Vatae – South Korea | 2024 – 28 minutes

Kyung, woman in early 20s, gets through the day by coffee, chocolate, and smoking. While wandering around Yankee Market and Songrim-dong in Incheon’s Dong-gu district, she sits down on a bench, hears stories seeping out of the gray concrete walls. (SIFF 2024)

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Tiny by Kim Jong-jin – South Korea | 2024 – 15 minutes

Director Yeo Hong, who dreams of becoming the second Bong Joon-ho, and actor Joo Yeon, who dreams of becoming star are contacted by a film festival. (SIFF 2024)

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Unboxing by PARK Rae-kyung – South Korea | 2024 – 34 minutes

Sang-gyu and Da-bin are neighborhood best friends. Sang-gyu works at a box factory to help with his family’s difficult financial situation, while Da-bin works at the same place to save money for independence. Da-bin dreams of moving to Seoul for a better future. Sang-gyu understands Da-bin mentally, but has difficulties accepting the fact. Eventually, Da-bin secures a job in Seoul, and the resignation date approaches. Sang-gyu is not yet ready for the farewell. One who leaves, one who stays, a day spent together. (SIFF 2024)

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Yurim by SONG Ji-seo – South Korea | 2024 – 30 minutes

In the last winter at high school, Yurim tries to help Sunmi, who has run away from home, but for some reason, Sunmi is reluctant to fully accept the help. Needing to gather money for Sunmi’s abortion, the two visit the home of Sunmi’s ex-lover, her literature teacher. (SIFF 2024)

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For more information, please visit: https://siff.kr/en/siff/