Synopsis
Neglected by her parents, Se-ri (16) believes only her violin can prove her worth.
When her parents' jajangmyeon restaurant goes under, she is sent alone to her grandmother's house in an island village.
But there she finds Hyun-woo (16), a Kopino boy called Sun-i's grandson, who has won all of her grandmother's love. Uneasy with his foreign looks and halting speech, Se-ri pushes him away.
When Se-ri spots a clue to a missing gold necklace in one of Hyun-woo's drawings, she brands him a thief — and the whole village begins to suspect him.
The prejudice that swept over Se-ri like the high tide recedes like the low,
and in the spot where Hyun-woo sat every day, she finally comes face to face with who she is…
Can Se-ri play on her own, without anyone's approval?
Neglected by her parents, Se-ri (16) believes only her violin can prove her worth.When her parents' jajangmyeon restaurant goes under, she is sent alone to her grandmother's house in an island village.
Characters
Se-ri (16, F)
Afraid she may be someone nobody needs, Se-ri seeks to earn attention and love through her violin.
Then one day, Hyun-woo appears before her — the boy who has all the attention and love she craved. Jealous and afraid, Se-ri pushes him away.
And the moment she sits in Hyun-woo's usual spot and looks out at the sea,
Se-ri understands someone else for the first time.
Hyun-woo (16, M)
Halting in speech and barely able to write, he has always quietly recorded the island's scenery and people in his drawings.
Because of his unfamiliar skin color and background, he has never fully belonged anywhere.
Sun-i is the only one who treats him like family.
When Se-ri comes at him threateningly, Hyun-woo stands his ground in silence.
Because if not here, he truly has nowhere else to go.
Once he learns where he comes from, Hyun-woo no longer clings to his place.
Sun-i (85, F)
Sun-i was born on the island and is growing old there.
Her children who left for Seoul never call; she has been left all alone.
She took in Hyun-woo, a boy with no blood relatives, and embraced him like a son, a grandson, family.
It isn't pity, but an obsession with carrying on the family line, rooted in the belief that “a household needs a man.”
She has fed and clothed Hyun-woo, and has even been saving money to send him to Seoul.
About the Writer
Jo Ho-jeong
Screenwriter / Film Director
Currently in festival distribution in Korea and abroad
2025
Screened at Korea Association of the Deaf's Gachibom Talk Talk "Living Room Cinema"
Chicago Women's Film Festival
2024
Chicago Women's Film Festival
Montreal Women's Film Festival
Screened at Gyeonggi Film School Festival
Screened at Gosaek Newseum, Suwon
Currently in festival distribution in Korea and abroad
<Where I Return>
2023
Busan New Wave Short Film Festival [Best Cinematography]
Korea International Short Film Festival [Best Acting Award]
24th Gachibom Film Festival — Non-Competition Invitation
18th Korea University Film Festival — Main Competition
Screened at Gyeonggi Film School Festival
<Things to Come>
2022
B.A. in Film Directing, Department of Film Arts, University of Suwon
<My Voice to You>
