22nd New York Asian Film Festival

Jul 14-30, 2023

Photo:

North American Premiere

A Tour Guide

믿을 수 있는 사람

Han-young, a North Korean defector, gets a license to guide Chinese tourists thanks to the language skills she acquired as a refugee in China. She works diligently but faces many challenges, from coworker rivalry to assimilation, all while desperately searching for her missing brother. The irony of Han-Young’s position is emblematic of marginalized peoples’ struggles everywhere. As a stranger in a strange land, Han-young is entrusted to show people around ancient landmarks yet she herself often gets less than respect. Seeing her always a bit detached from her surroundings is a sobering symptom of her trauma, both from having fled her homeland as well as adjusting to a new one where the welcome isn’t entirely warm.

Director: Kwak Eun-mi
Cast: Lee Sul, Oh Gyeong-hwa, Park Se-hyun
Languages: Korean with English subtitles
2023; 94 min.; DCP

SCHEDULE:

Wednesday July 19, 6:00pm
Film at Lincoln Center

Intro & Q&A with director Kwak Eun-mi.

Kwak Eun-mi
곽은미

After graduating from Kookmin University, Kwak majored in film at the Korean Academy of Film Arts. Beneath the Wheel (2015), her graduation thesis film, won the Women's Human Rights Film Festival's Pium Audience Award and was screened at the Jeonju International Film Festival and the Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival. After graduation, she won the Sonjae Award at the Busan International Film Festival and the Blue Dragon Film Award for Short Film with A Hand-Written Poster (2017). A Tour Guide was made at the Korean Film Academy and marks her feature debut.