North American Premiere
In his feature debut, writer-director Oh Jung-min gives us the Kim family, from grandparents down through middle-aged offspring to Seong-Jin (Kang Seung-ho), the sole grandchild, who is something of a surrogate for the audience. The Kims hail from a small rural community, though some have left—including Seong-jin, who is trying to make it as an actor in Seoul. In depicting three occasions for reunion, Oh takes us from summer to winter, and he portrays the changes in family dynamics in tandem with the seasonal transformations of the countryside.
House of the Seasons is by turns funny, tender, and tragic. Like any family, the Kims are burdened with years of buried resentments and unacknowledged confusion, and Oh’s mapping of these problems is intricate and subtle. The film is distinguished by its emotional complexity, its fine ensemble cast, and its visual beauty—from a summer of green and brightness to the rich colours of autumn to the stark whiteness of winter, cinematographer Lee Jin-keun creates a vivid backdrop to the human turmoil.
KBS Independent Film Award, Busan 2023
Media Partner
Kang Seung Ho, Woo Sangjeon, Son Sook
South Korea
2023
In Korean with English subtitles
At International Village
At Fifth Avenue
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits & Director
Producer
Jeong Joeun, Jang Ji-won
Screenwriter
Oh Jung-min
Cinematography
Lee Jinkeun
Editor
Oh Jung-min
Original Music
Jang Yeonggyu, Jeong Jungyeop
Oh Jung-min
Oh Jung-min was born in 1989 in Daegu City, South Korea. He majored in Korean Literature at Sungkyunkwan University and studied filmmaking at the Korean Academy of Film Arts. He directed several short films including Yeonji (2016), LIM (2018), CUT (2018), 100 Days (2018), and Coming of Age (2018). House of the Seasons (2023) is his debut feature film.
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Silent Friend
In this entrancing reverie from On Body and Soul director Ildikó Enyedi, we are invited to contemplate several human specimens from the vantage point of a mighty Ginkgo biloba tree on the grounds of a German university.
Fiume o Morte!
The Croatian city of Rijeka rediscovers its own past in this delightfully unconventional hybrid documentary about Italian poet and proto-fascist Gabriele D’Annunzio, who seized the city known in Italian as Fiume in 1919.
The Art of Adventure
The unbelievable adventure story of how painter Robert Bateman and ecologist Bristol Foster drove a Land Rover from Africa to Australia in 1957, developing a love of nature to last a lifetime. An inspirational love letter to the adventure of life itself.
Bushido
An impeccable samurai (and "Go" expert), Kakunoshin is framed for a crime and forced into exile. Years later he stumbles across the true reason for his fall from grace, and sets about exacting his revenge...