Film selected as opening work of inaugural LA Korean Film Festival

First return to LA in 10 years since debut

Lead actor Seo Su-bin says she understood Juin's impulsive actions 'in her heart'

Director Yoon Ga-eun [Tcast Co.]
Director Yoon Ga-eun [Tcast Co.]

"I hope my film becomes a kind of place — somewhere people can bring out the stories they don't usually open up about."

Director Yoon Ga-eun, who made "The World of Love," spoke those words Thursday (local time) at Harmony Gold Preview House in Los Angeles, California, where the film screened as the opening work of the inaugural LA Korean Film Festival.

The film is Yoon's third feature, following "We Are the Best" (2016) and "Our House" (2019). It centers on Lee Juin, a high school girl played by Seo Su-bin, who alone refuses to sign a schoolwide petition opposing the release of a convicted child sex offender. Juin was sexually abused by a relative in childhood.

The film weaves multiple threads around Juin: society's demand that sexual violence survivors conform to a certain image of victimhood, adolescent sexuality, a family in which each member carries their own quiet deficit, and the texture of teenage friendships.

Yoon said she made the film because she felt there were too few spaces to talk about such experiences. "It deals with sexual violence and trauma — things that happen with disturbing frequency — yet there aren't many places where people can actually discuss them," she said.

"The World of Love," which opened last year, drew strong reviews at home and abroad. It became the first Korean film invited to the Platform section, a competition category, at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival. It also received an official invitation to the Panorama section of the 16th Beijing International Film Festival and won two awards at the 9th Pingyao International Film Festival.

The accolades continued this year. The film took three prizes, including best screenplay, at the Directors Cut Awards presented by the Directors Guild of Korea. Yoon also received the Woman in Korean Cinema Award, the Gender Equality Culture Award of the Year, and the best film prize from the Korean Film Producers Association for the work.

The meeting with an LA audience carries special meaning for Yoon. "I have such a happy memory of screening my debut film in LA, and I never imagined I'd be back 10 years later with my third," she said. "I'm deeply grateful and moved."

Lead actor Seo attributed the film's resonance to its layered storytelling. "I think it's because the film isn't telling just one specific story," she said. "It has a complex, multifaceted narrative, and as each audience member receives it through their own perspective and feelings, the film seems to expand further."

Seo also spoke about how she approached playing Juin's intricate inner world. "Even in my own life, I don't always know why I do the things I do," she said. "I came to the character with the idea that I don't fully understand Juin — and yet all of her impulsive actions made complete sense to me in my heart." When Juin wears an unreadable expression, Seo said she chose to think not of past wounds but of the people around the character.

The pair also discussed the film's English title. The Korean title carries layered meanings that Yoon said were difficult to render directly. "I didn't want to lose the word 'world,'" she explained, "and as I thought about what could stand alongside the protagonist's name, Juin, I landed on 'love' — the one thing Juin most directly wants in the film."

Another title in the running was "Apple." In the film, Juin has a strong aversion to apples, but the reason is never revealed.

Yoon said she left that blank deliberately. "Even though I wrote this story, I myself cannot say whether Juin has recovered from her trauma or not — I feel like I don't fully know this character," she said. "So I wanted that same blank space to exist in the film. I intentionally chose not to decide why she hates apples."

"I wanted to leave question marks — whether the apple is connected to her trauma, or whether she simply doesn't like the taste, or whether there is yet another wound in Juin's past — so that people who see the film would have something to talk about," she added.

The LA Korean Film Festival runs Thursday through Saturday at the Korean Cultural Center Los Angeles, marking the first time an official Korean film festival has been held in the city. Held under the theme "New Currents, New Voices," the event screens 19 films, including independent and art-house features, short films, and AI-generated works.


won@heraldcorp.com