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
The Secret in Their Eyes
This month's Talking Pictures screening is a multi-layered, poignant thriller interweaving the personal lives of a prosecution investigator (Ricardo Darin) and a judge, with a manhunt spanning twenty-five years. Stay for cookies, coffee and a chat after!
The Haunting
Directed by Robert Wise in 1963, The Haunting is a classic exercise in the suggestive power of cinema, adapted from Shirley Jackson's 1959 best-seller, The Haunting of Hill House, a provocative blend of supernatural and psychological horror.
Once Upon a Time in Harlem
Once Upon a Time in Harlem splices together footage shot by William Greaves in 1972 of a group of Harlem Renaissance luminaries in conversation at Duke Ellington’s townhouse. The film is a living archive of memory, disagreement, style, and Black genius.
Possible Love
Lee Chang-dong’s first film since Burning (2018) is a sardonic, slow-burning satire about two couples: a documentary filmmaker married to a wealthy businessman, and a working-class family struggling to make ends meet after the husband has been laid off.
