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Winter Light film image; man fully hunched over a desk with a pencil held limp in his hand

Winter Light

Gyeourui Bit

Spotlight on Korea

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International Premiere

Cho Hyun-suh’s film is attuned to the poetry in silences, the tension in talk, and the paradox when dedication to one person often means neglect, or even betrayal, of another. Da-bin (Sung Yu-been) is quite burdened for an adolescent: his mother is broke, he’s got a runaway brother, and his little sister is going deaf. Trudging through each day with academic, romantic, social, and economic pressure weighing him down, he nonetheless finds moments of happiness with his best friend Jung-won (Lim Jae-Hyeok) and girlfriend Jae-un (Kang Min-ju).

Cho gets strong performances from Sung, Cha Jun-hui as his adorable younger sibling, and Lee Seung-yeon as his mother. As Da-bin’s thuggish pal Jung-won, Lim radiates menace and pathos in equal measure, and Kang is restrained and graceful as the girl our hero may not be able to hold on to. Cho’s visual style is clean and concise, while still conveying the feel of winter in all its blankness and severity.

 

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Director
Cast

Sung Yu-been, Cha Jun-hui, Lee Seung-yeon

Credits
Country of Origin

South Korea

Year

2025

Language

In Korean with English subtitles

18+
90 min
Award Winners Cinemas of Asia Drama Family Relations Spotlight on Korea

Book Tickets

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Credits & Director

Producer

Jeong Young-joon

Screenwriter

Cho Hyun-suh

Cinematography

Jung Woon-chun

Editor

Han Ji-yoon

Production Design

Suh Joo-yeon

Original Music

Lee Soo-yeon

Cho Hyun-suh headshot

Cho Hyun-suh

Born in 1995, director Cho Hyun-suh studied directing at the Korean Academy of Film Arts and has directed short films including Tree (2020) and Nobody’s Land (2021). Winter Light is his debut feature film.

Filmography: Tree (2020); Nobody’s Land (2021)

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