A Cellist Coming to Earth

There lives a couple known as "100-year-old lovebirds". They're like fairy tale characters: the husband is strong like a woodman, and the wife is full of charms like a princess. They dearly love each other, wear Korean traditional clothes together, and still fall asleep hand in hand. However, death, quietly and like a thief, sits between them. This film starts from that moment, and follows the last moments of 76 years of their marriage.

When the MV Sewol ferry sank off the coast of South Korea in 2014, over three hundred people lost their lives, most of them schoolchildren. Years later, the victims’ families and survivors are still demanding justice from national authorities.

Back in the days, Choi Maggi an old lady accepted Kim Chunhee as her husband’s second wife to continue the family tree as she has lost her two sons in the past due to measles and typhoon. This story is more dramatic than any drama because even after the death of their husband they live together. The director does a good job in expressing the lives of these two old ladies without any exaggeration. The daily life and relationship of the two ladies eating, washing and working is described in a very detailed script. Through this film you will feel the eager echo of the proposition of life that exceeds the standard of happiness and misfortune. (KIM Youngjin)

Venerable Aloysius Schwartz founded the Religious Congregation of the Sisters of Mary on August 15, 1964 in Amnamdong, Busan, to help the poor who were suffering through the aftermath of the Korean War. He also established Boystowns and Girlstowns to take care and educate the orphans, street children, and children from poor families. This documentary follows the life of Venerable Aloysius Schwartz, who was a good father to those in need.

Many trekkers visit Oze, a wetland with breathtaking scenery. However, having a long and severe winter, the mountain lodges in Oze are only open from May to October. Vehicles are unable to pass through the wetlands; “botcah” (the traditional carriers manually transporting luggage), who carry packages of food and other materials on foot, are the only ones who can get to the lodges. Speed of Happiness sends respect to the botcah who have embodied values learned while walking every day and humbly accompany their daily lives. Walking along at the pace of each botcah, the film gazes at calluses, smiles, hardships, endurance, and hope. The solidity of their lives in Oze pounds our hearts and the taste of each season touches our skin.

Sujin and her grandmother are shamans living in the mountains. It is their important daily routine to offer purified water to gods and tell a fortune for troubled hearts. During high school, Sujin works hard to go to college with hopes of escaping her fate and living a normal life. But the excitement of busy college life deepens her conflict with her grandmother.