10 Must-see documentaries from the 23rd EBS International Documentary Festival 2026

By Asian Film Festival on August 23, 2026 • ( Leave a comment )

These are ten documentaries you shouldn’t miss at the EBS International Documentary Festival which will run from August 24 – 30, 2026 in Seoul and on EBS 1TV (only in Korean).

At the Triangle Intersection by Yamada Yoru – Japan | 2025 – 95 minutes
Section: Festival Choice – Competition

A couple and the husband’s mother have been living away from the town of Namie in Fukushima Prefecture since they were evacuated after the nuclear accident. As they make the decision to build a new house, their feelings as husband and wife, parent and child, and daughter-in-law and mother-in-law intersect. The film depicts their emotional struggle to live as their true selves, amidst elder care and complex family relationships—issues brought to the surface by the disaster. (EIDF 2026)

Trailer:

Becoming Kim by Susanne Kim – Germany, South Korea | 2026 – 90 minutes

Section: Festival Choice – Competition

German filmmaker Susanne, married to a Korean man named Jeongrae Kim, turns the camera toward her own intercultural marriage and family with both humor and tenderness. As she juggles the roles of wife, mother, and artist, she stages humorous and poetic performances—quiet acts of rebellion that give shape to her emotions and inner world. Blending vérité and performance, the film dives into the beautiful mess of love, identity, and cultural collision. At once deeply personal and universal, Becoming Kim asks: How do we stay true to ourselves—while learning to love another? (EIDF 2026)

Screening Date:
August 28, 2026 | Friday | Seoul Film Center 3 | 8:00 pm

Trailer:

Grounding by Ma Minji – South Korea | 2025 – 107 minutes
Section: Korean Wave

TAK, who brought to light sexual violence cases in the publishing company and literary scene, struggles to rebuild her life in the aftermath of #MeToo. The ground she stands on is Sang-yeoja’s Grounding Tactic—an art collective created by survivors and allies. Each week, they gather in a safe space to share snacks, voice their anger toward returning perpetrators, and weep and laugh together. They also run art programs for sexual violence survivors and allies, expanding their shared safe haven. But this community, too, is far from perfect. Expectations clash, wounds surface, and relationships crack. (EIDF 2026)

Screening Date:
August 29, 2026 | Saturday | MEGABOX Baekseok Bella Citta 102 | 11:50 am

Trailer:

Ikaino by Lee Wonsik – South Korea | 2025 – 98 minutes
Section: Festival Choice – Competition

Located in Ikuno Ward, Osaka, Japan, Ikaino is a communal settlement where Zainichi Koreans—who migrated from Korea by choice or circumstance since the 1910s—have lived continuously. Over the past century, through the Japanese colonial era, liberation, the Jeju 4.3 Incident, and the Korean War, they have endured as marginalized people belonging to neither Korea, Japan, nor North Korea. The film explores Ikaino as a diaspora space, focusing on their lives and history. It also reflects on Ikaino’s ongoing transformation into a multicultural and diverse community. (EIDF 2026)

Screening Date:
August 29, 2026 | Saturday | MEGABOX Baekseok Bella Citta 103 | 3:30 pm

Trailer:

Karma by Kim Myunwoo – South Korea | 2026 – 89 minutes
Section: Festival Choice – Competition

In Korea, a “Beommusa” is a licensed legal practitioner who prepares court documents for people in crisis. In a Beommusa’s office, a father aids debtors yet is indebted himself. Eight years ago, fearing that debt might one day destroy his father, the director became his assistant to help repay what was owed. This film traces debt-born pain, seeking dissolution. (EIDF 2026)

Screening Date:
August 29, 2026 | Saturday | Seoul Film Center 2 | 12:50 pm

Trailer:

Miari Texas by Jang Yunmi – South Korea | 2025 – 120 minutes
Section: Korean Wave

The story obscured by the banner: “Erasing 70 years of disgrace! Full-scale demolition of the red-light district!” Part 1. The Alley: Auntie, you said that when misfortune comes to a household, a strange smell rises from the rice cooker, right? Part 2. The Struggle: Workers in Miari Texas launched a struggle demanding relocation measures in response to redevelopment. Part 3. Auntie: A conversation with the “entrance auntie” who has worked in Miari Texas for 30 years. (EIDF 2026)

Screening Date:
August 29, 2026 | Saturday | MEGABOX Baekseok Bella Citta 103 | 12:30 pm

Trailer:

Numakage Public Pool by Ota Shingo – Japan | 2025 – 80 minutes
Section: Festival Choice – Competition

For 52 years, Numakage, a massive public pool complex in suburban Tokyo, served as a sanctuary for the elderly, children, and gay men alike. Now, with its demolition imminent, the film explores the collective grief felt by the community—grief usually reserved for the death of humans. (EIDF 2026)

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Saigon Story: Two Shootings in the Forest Kingdom by Kim Nguyen – Canada | 2026 – 91 minutes
Section: Asian Currents

Which is more final, the gun or the camera? Armed with a powerful visual style, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Kim Nguyen reveals the elusive connection between two families and one iconic photo: Saigon Execution. Part history, part mystery, Saigon Story confronts the family secrets left in the wake of the Vietnam War, exposing the resilience of survivors and the blurred legacy of wartime memory. (EIDF 2026)

Trailer:

Sandra, The Primate Citizen by Ha Sinae – South Korea, Argentina | 2026 – 88 minutes
Section: Festival Choice – Competition

Sandra, an orangutan who spent two decades in Buenos Aires Zoo, becomes the world’s first non-human person recognized by an Argentine court. What seems a historic victory soon sparks a deeper question: where and how should she live as a subject of rights and a sentient being, as law and science seek to understand her mind? (EIDF 2026)

Screening Date:
August 29, 2026 | Saturday | Seoul Film Center 2 | 3:20 pm

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The Yearbook: Waiting for the Teacher by Kim Jongkwan – South Korea | 2026 – 102 minutes
Section: Korean Wave

On May 27, 1980—the last day of the Gwangju Uprising—students at Sinheung High School in Jeonju defied martial law. Their teacher disciplined them to protect them, but this act left forty years of misunderstanding. Now in his nineties, the teacher reunites with his former students to finally offer each other the reconciliation they had long set aside. (EIDF 2026)

Screening Date:
August 29, 2026 | Saturday | MEGABOX Baekseok Bella Citta 102 | 2:30 pm

Trailer: