Lee Se Young's Shocking Transformation After 9 Years

The 2014 film Cart depicted the story of contract workers at a large supermarket fighting against injustice. It was director Boo Ji-young's new film, featuring a harmonious blend of performances from veteran actors like Yum Jung-ah, Moon Jung-hee, Kim Young-ae, and Kim Kang-woo, alongside emerging talents such as Chun Woo-hee and Do Kyung-soo. However, it failed to reach its break-even point, attracting only 810,000 viewers. The release timing (November) and the heavy themes of strikes and labor issues acted as unfavorable factors for its box office success.

Approximately one year after the release of Cart, in October 2015, the drama Awl, which also dealt with the stories of contract workers, began airing. This was a JTBC weekend drama based on the webtoon of the same name by Choi Gyu-seok.

From September 28 to December 5, the Korean Film Archive will host the exhibition <Beautiful Survival: Korean Female Film Directors Park Nam-ok, Hong Eun-won, Choi Eun-hee, Hwang Hye-mi, Lee Mi-rye, Im Soon-rye>. This exhibition focuses on significant female figures in Korean film history, particularly directors, highlighting their passion and efforts in filmmaking. It introduces a total of 24 female directors who have been active from the late 1990s to the 2010s, expressing anticipation for the increasing number of female directors who are becoming more active in recent times.

Director Lee Jeong-hyang established her position as a female filmmaker in Chungmuro in the 1990s, sweeping new director awards with her debut film Art Museum by the Zoo (1998). Her 2002 film The Way Home achieved great success, drawing 4.09 million viewers. Even after her comeback film A Moment to Remember (2011), released after a nine-year hiatus, her three films continue to be highly anticipated.

Director Hong Hyung-sook has been active as a documentarian in the independent film scene since the mid-to-late 1980s. She served as a director of the Korean Independent Film Association and also as the executive director of the DMZ International Documentary Film Festival. Starting with her debut film Doo-mil-ri: A New School Is Opening (1995), she has not hesitated to bring major social issues in Korea to the screen through works like the Border City (2002) series and Dancing Forest (2012).