From Seoul to Reykjavik: Stories That Stick

Our festival presents a bold lineup of films exploring solitude, memory, family, and identity—through underrepresented voices and intimate storytelling. The selection includes Aloners and Lucky Chan-sil, which portray women navigating personal loss and transformation, as well as Bori and With a Girl of Black Soil, which touch on disability and working-class survival with rare emotional depth.

The program also embraces transnational perspectives with Gyeongju, directed by Korean Chinese filmmaker ZHANG Lü, and A Traveler’s Needs, the latest from HONG Sang-soo—a quiet meditation on language, introspection, and emotional distance in everyday life.

Together, these films reflect the festival’s commitment to human-centered cinema—stories that transcend borders and invite Icelandic audiences into shared experiences of resilience and connection.