Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat relentlessly tracks a hidden segment of Cold War history with rhythm and insight. What connection might there be between Louis Armstrong and uranium, the primary material for atomic bombs? The film recalls a seemingly plausible ‘60s musical project that brought legendary jazz musicians like Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, and Duke Ellington to Congo. It reveals that behind the pacifist behavior of these “jazz goodwill ambassadors” was a CIA conspiracy to sway public opinion. In this political thriller-musical, the director uses music not merely as a soundtrack but as a political core character, giving rhythm and structure to the film. In this film, Johan Grimonprez presents another new way of writing history, by seamlessly weaving together a vast array of archival footage, Lumumba’s speeches, home movies, excerpts from history books, and interview recordings with the rhythms of rumba and jazz. (SEO Seunghee)

Eighteen-year-old Li Qi is confident and skilled in handling difficult customers at her mother’s fish shop in the local market. After refusing her mother’s suggestion to repeat a year after failing her college entrance exams, Li Qi accidentally breaks Xiaowei’s iPhone during a fight at Xiaowei’s birthday party. Thus begins her struggle to buy a new iPhone for Xiao Wei. The world is harsh and unforgiving to an 18-year-old who has not successfully transitioned from high school to college. As Li Qi stands at the boundary between adolescence and adulthood, her sense of hopelessness, anxiety, and pain is metaphorically represented by the pain of a fishbone stuck in her throat. With its intricately woven narrative and compelling conflicts between characters, the film won the New Talent Award for Best Screenplay at the Shanghai International Film Festival and Best Actress at the Xining FIRST International Film Festival. (PARK Sun Young)

In a quiet seaside village, Xiao Kui, a lively girl with many dreams, is just as eager to help her mother Hongjv with her Maoqiang opera performances as she is to play with her friends. Since Xiao Kui’s father never returned from the sea, Hongjv has shouldered the burden of supporting the family alone. Her most shining moments are when she steps on stage as an opera actor. But now, with few people interested in traditional opera and Xiao Kui falling ill, their lives are suddenly swept into a turbulent current. While the film depicts unavoidable moments of pain and loss, its true theme is resilience—how we bounce back from such moments. Much like the balloons fluttering around the village, wishing for the safe return of those who went to sea, pain is ever-present in their lives, but so are the warm wishes for each other’s well-being. Blue Sea is a heartwarming film brimming with such kindness. (HONG Soin)

Patricia Mazuy is an unpredictable director. Her filmography spans thrillers, comedies, and westerns. In Visiting Hours, a social drama mixed with comedy, the director portrays of two women whose fates will soon intertwine. Alma (Isabelle Huppert), from the bourgeois class, and Mina (Hafsia Herzi), a young mother from the working class, first meet in the waiting room of a prison where their husbands are incarcerated. Alma’s husband, a famous doctor, was convicted for a drunk driving accident, while Mina’s husband was found guilty of robbing a jewelry store. But the real victims and the other prisoners here are the women themselves. Their lives revolve around visiting the prison, and the burden of social responsibility for their husbands’ crimes falls on them. They are also captives of their respective social classes. When Mina starts living with Alma, the director doesn’t just focus on the clash between these two classes. Soon, they will find an unexpected way to liberate themselves from each other. (SEO Seunghee)

Method Acting is a film that deliberately aims to be funny, and its deadpan approach makes it even more amusing and poignant. The star in this remarkable comic film is, ironically, Actor Lee Donghwi (played by himself), who hates comic acting. Despite his efforts to reinvent himself, opportunities seem elusive, and he finds himself increasingly despondent. Unexpectedly, he receives a surprising offer to play a king in a traditional costume drama. Determined to perfect his portrayal of this majestic royal character, Donghwi dives into method acting. However, things quickly become unconventional in this historical drama. Method Acting skillfully balances the chaotic filming environment with family narratives, portraying the characters’ struggles while handling inventive elements with seamless precision, resulting in an outstanding comedy. Above all, the actors’ performances, which reach a level of trance, are truly exceptional. (HONG Eunmi)

Ernest Hemingway’s influential short story The Killers (1927), has been adapted to film by Robert Siodmak and Andrei Tarkovsky, while Edward Hopper’s painting Nighthawks (1942) is also said to have been inspired by the story. The Killers, an omnibus film comprised of four-shorts, takes motifs from these two classics and borrows some of their imagery as mise-en-scène. The 4 directors unfold the noir world of death and waiting with different senses and sensibilities. Kim Jong-kwan’s Metamorphosis, which depicts the awakening and manifestation of power following bloodsucking; Roh Deok’s Contractors, a pyramid of contract killings and subcontracted labor; Chang Hang-jun’s Everyone is Waiting for the Man, which tracks down a ghostly figure called a mysterious killer; and Lee Myung-Se’s Silent Cinema, an allegory of his longtime dream of cinema and the world. Notably, Actor Shim Eun-kyung appears in all four films, each time in a completely different role, adding to the delight. It’s an unconventional collection of emotional, psychological, and action-oriented films. (JEONG Jihye)

Arrested at the scene on suspicion of murdering bestselling author Jeong Sang-u (Lee Kiwoo), In-seon (Kim Minha) designates Min-ju (Moon Choi) as her assigned detective. Upon arriving in Hongcheon, where the crime occurred, Min-ju discovers that In-seon is actually a childhood friend from elementary school who drifted apart due to a serious incident. Although In-seon admits to all charges, her motives and some of her statements do not align with the evidence, raising doubts. Min-ju exhausts all efforts to uncover the truth behind the case. A Girl with Closed Eyes heightens narrative density and tension with its meticulous structure. It also sharply critiques police incompetence and media malevolence. Unveiling the terror and brutality of this world with stark realism, A Girl with Closed Eyes is a solid and astute thriller, as well as a heartrending film of solidarity. (HONG Eunmi)

Lawyer Avril decides to defend Cosmos, a dog who is facing trial for biting three people. If they lose the case, Cosmos is at risk of being euthanized. To save Cosmos facing a life-or-death decision under human law for the crime of biting people, Avril begins by examining the dog’s legal status. So, according to the law, are dogs considered people or objects? In court, a discussion unfolds with ecologists, philosophers, and religious figures debating the ethics and soul of animals. The trial also explores why Cosmos only bit women, leading to the absurd claim that ‘Cosmos is a misogynist.’ This comedy, which is both incredibly funny and ultimately serious, is based on a true story. Laetitia Dosch, a former actress, directs and stars as Avril. Cosmos (Kodi) won the prestigious ‘Palm Dog’ Award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for the best performance by a dog. (LEE Juhyun)

Ignored, resentful and sad, the ‘middle-aged woman’ can also redeem herself as the heroine of her life. Combining the genres of fantasy and horror with a comic drama as its base, Vietnamese film Don’t Cry, Butterfly is a quirky film that puts women who have been denigrated as ‘middle-aged women’ to the forefront. Tam is an ordinary middle-aged woman. She witnesses her husband’s infidelity and turns to voodoo to try and win back her cheating husband’s heart. Tam’s house, which is haunted by the ‘spirit of the house’, soon becomes a place for social experimentation and a space for the genre to unfold. Unlike her mother’s generation, who cope with their real-life struggles by reconciling them with a fantasy world, Tam’s daughter Ha takes a different path. For Ha, home is no longer a place to be adapted through feng shui and witchcraft, but a place to either leave or change. It is ultimately the contrast between the two women, mother and daughter, that adds taut tension to the film. (LEE Hwajung)

The third feature film by Ishibashi Yuho, who won the Japan Cuts award at the Osaka Asian Film Festival with When Morning Comes, I Feel Empty (2022). The film delicately conveys the memory of first love and the sense of loss, moving back and forth between past and present. Misaki, who has worked in Tokyo for ten years, spends quality time with her family and friends again in her hometown. At an event where classmates gather, she learns that the boy she liked in middle school has died. Unable to forget the memory of their first conversation in the library on a typhoon day, Misaki visits the library again on another typhoon day. Traveling Alone is a film that shows another way to fill the emptiness in one’s heart. While the music they listened to together on an MD player shows the emotional fullness of that time and place, the film only depicts the situation without directly playing the music. There is beauty that can be imagined because it’s empty, and there is love that is poignant because it wasn’t fulfilled. (NAM Dong-chul)

In 1978, in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, three French journalists arrive in this isolated and completely unknown region. They have been officially invited by the government to report on the reality of Cambodia and to interview Pol Pot, the leader of the Khmer Rouge. However, as their reporting continues, they begin to sense that something is profoundly wrong in this society, and they start to see things differently.
An official selection at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, this film is inspired by true events. The actors’ live-action performances, combined with black-and-white archival footage and the director’s signature clay puppet scenes, create layers of representation and amplify emotions. What are the “ideals” and “revolution” of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, and who are they for? Through the eyes of journalists, director Rithy Panh confronts the heartbreaking past and asks these questions. (BOO Kyunghwan)

MA – Cry of Silence is a story about Mi-Thet, an 18-year-old woman. She becomes the head of the household in Myanmar, a country that has gone through a humanitarian crisis following a coup d’état, experiencing the collapse of her community and family. As the military systematically destroys rural villages under the pretext of eliminating resistance forces, young people flock to the cities. Mi-Thet gets a job at a garment factory with others in similar circumstances and leads a life commuting between the dormitory and the factory. Enduring frequent blackouts and the constant sound of gunfire, she suffers from poor meals and demands for overdue rent but persistently continues to send money to her family. In this precarious existence, non-payment of wages becomes a significant crisis in her life. Her colleagues, who are fed up with sexual harassments and unpaid wages, go on strike, but Mi-Thet hesitates to join them. Thus, her youth, which should have been bright, becomes marked by darkness and bitterness. (PARK Sungho)