High school fencer Zijie is shocked to learn that his older brother, Zihan, is being released early from prison. Zijie’s mother, who is about to marry a kind, wealthy man named Zhuang, wants to erase or downplay Zihan’s existence. But Zijie remembers his older brother as the one who saved him from drowning and the winner of three national fencing championships. Was Zihan really a psychopath who deliberately killed his opponent, as their mother claims, or was it an accident? If fencing is ‘chess with swords,’ requiring strategic anticipation of the opponent’s moves, the characters in Pierce are players, each moving their own pieces on the board of truth. In her directorial debut, former fencer Nelicia Low captures the dangerous yet beautiful art of fencing in a tale of brotherhood, earning her the Best Director Award at the 2024 Karlovy Vary Film Festival. (CHOI Eun)

This documentary chronicles the making of BTS leader RM’s second solo album, “Right Place, Wrong Person.” It tells the story of the final chapter of his twenties as he prepares for mandatory military service, and offers a deeply personal glimpse into the life of Kim Nam-joon. RM: Right People, Wrong Place opens with grainy shots that evoke a sense of nostalgia. It is a chronicle of youth, spanning from February 8, 2023, to November 10, 2023, with each section dated like a journal entry, documenting the progress of “Team RM’s” project. In a collaborative project that feels like a small festival, where like-minded friends with similar tastes come together to share burgers and whiskey, RM, or Kim Nam-joon, dreams of creating an album that is “entirely his own.” The film follows him as he travels to places where no one recognizes him, and the photographer captures him just as he is. RM: Right People, Wrong Place is both a film about the making of RM’s album and a very special record of a unique youth. (KANG Sowon)

Three women who grew up under patriarchal norms, always reprimanded to be “a good girl” but never learned anything about masturbation and orgasm, recollect their concealed memories and repressed desires. Represented on the screen by Sol Carballo, we follow the women’s journey through their first crush, first period, first rape, first childbirth. Once hushed voices now speak out with such candor and resilience, undaunted by the miseries of their past. Despite the grim stories they share, these women exhibit a great deal of charm and are surprisingly full of humor. Described as “the conversation I never had with my grandmother”, Antonella Sudasassi Furniss portrays a magnificent tribute to the strength of all our mothers and grandmothers, and celebrates the unyielding power of human spirit. It is never too late to take control of your body and your destiny, and to become totally free. (Karen PARK)

Tango at Dawn tells the story of three women. Ji-won, who is clear-cut and straightforward, is hiding out and securing a job at a factory after being swindled by a friend; Ju-hui, Ji-won’s roommate, who is kind to everyone and always remains optimistic; and Han-byeol, who started working at a young age, became a team leader, and is quite selfish and irresponsible. One day, an accident happens to a fellow worker, and the reactions and solutions offered by these three women involved in the accident are remarkably different. The emotional tension arising from their differences, and the profound impact that transcends that tension, becomes increasingly powerful through the film’s multidimensional character development and subtle emotional buildup. Tango at Dawn poses careful questions about the failure and restoration of relationships, and serves as an intriguing example of personality and fate, ultimately becoming a poignant elegy for the loss of something precious and beautiful. (JUNG Hanseok)

Johan lives with his mother on a crocodile farm in West Java. For his mother, Johan and the crocodiles are everything in her life, and she takes great care of them. However, this life makes Johan, now an adult, feel suffocated and intimidated. One day, Johan meets Arumi, and he starts to develop feelings of love. With Arumi coming between Johan and his mother, their relationship subtly changes and eventually turns to a disaster. This is the feature debut of director Tumpal Tampubolon, who won the Sonje Award in 2021 for his short film The Sea Calls Me. While his previous work depicted a mother’s absence through the eyes of a young boy, this film dissects the oppressive control and possessiveness masked under the guise of motherhood. A shocking conclusion awaits at the end of the gradually tightening tension. (BOO Kyunghwan)

There are three friends: Joan, Alice, and Rebecca, each facing love in their own way. Joan feels that her love for her partner Victor has completely ended. Victor tries his best to improve their relationship, but he can’t change her mind. Eventually, other men enter Joan’s life. Alice has a partner, Eric, but she continues to meet an attractive man, who repeatedly appears in her dreams, in her real life. Rebecca is in a relationship that she keeps secret from her friends, but her “Mister X” turns out to be Alice’s partner, Eric. The movie takes the point of view of an observer, Victor, who wants to understand Joan. However, neither he nor the audience can fully understand the various forms of love depicted in the movie, including Joan’s feelings. Where the love starts, where it turns, and where it ends are always unclear. Director Emmanuel Mouret’s exploration of love ultimately concludes that we are beings who, without truly understanding what love is, are helplessly swayed by it. (LEE Juhyun)

Taesan and Dongju are a long-time couple. As they prepare to move, they find an old sofa on the street and bring it home. Their cramped apartment, now filled with the sofa, the couple preparing for their move, and their dreams, are depicted with an air of detachment. The film captures their emotions with a unique rhythm, floating in the air. (KANG Sowon)

The internationally renowned author Baek Heena’s picture book Magic Candies has been adapted into a short animation by Japan’s major film studio Toei Animation. This is a rare opportunity to experience Baek Heena’s exceptional imagination, whose original work was close to an animation itself. (NAM Dong-chul)

* Based on Korean Picture Books Magic Candies & I am a Dog by BAEK Heena (Korean author)

26-year-old Yong-jun (Hong Kyung) is troubled by his lack of dreams when he falls for the same-age Yeo-reum (Roh Yoon-seo) at first sight. Yeo-reum takes care of her little sister Ga-eul (Kim Min-ju), a swimmer with hearing impairments, regarding her sister’s Olympic aspirations as her own dream. While youthful feelings seem to blossom between Yong-jun and Yeo-reum, she finds herself unfamiliar with these emotions and feels guilt toward her sister. In Hear Me: Our Summer, the youth are wholeheartedly attentive to each other’s voices. Rather than relying on spoken language, they use sign language, gestures, body language, and written text. The film persuasively shows that falling in love involves understanding and sharing the other’s language, discovering a unique form of intimacy, and ultimately, rediscovering themselves. It captures the intersection of romantic youth and coming-of-age drama with a refreshing vitality, brought to life by the energetic performances of Hong Kyung, Roh Yoon-seo, and Kim Min-ju. The eponymous Taiwanese film has gained great popularity in Korea. (JEONG Jihye)

The father, who “ran, ran, and flew” from the source of the Mekong River, sings to his young daughter. Yangchen, who lives in India, meets with her sister, who has returned from France for their mother’s funeral, and reveals the wounds she could not share with their parents. After a brief encounter with his old friend Jigdal, who has come from America, Thangka artist Sonam suddenly feels as though his simple life is too shabby. And Tenzin who lives in Wisconsin arrives in Dharamsala, where he spent his childhood, carrying his father’s ashes. State of Statelessness is an omnibus film that tells the stories of Tibetans in Vietnam, India, and the United States in Tibetan language and features four works by Tibetan diaspora artists. Neither the place they live now nor the place they fled long ago feels like home. So they sing, “If only the river could flow upstream.” (CHOI Eun)

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)

A Real Pain follows mismatched cousins David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin) who reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother. The adventure takes a turn when old tensions between the odd couple resurface against the backdrop of their family history. A Real Pain is a 2024 comedy drama film, written, directed, and produced by American actor Jesse Eisenberg. With this funny and emotional drama, Jesse Eisenberg clearly displays impressive talent in directing and writing. Plus, Kieran Culkin delivers a superb performance throughout the film, stealing the show. When it premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, it became an audience favorite, with Jesse Eisenberg winning the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award. A Real Pain is his second feature film after When You Finish Saving the World (2022).