The 2nd Seoul Art House Film Festival Features 4 New Works by Contemporary Directors!

The 2nd Seoul Art House Film Festival will be held from November 19 to 23 at CGV Art House Yongsan I-Park Mall, Apgujeong, Seoul Art Cinema, Cinecube, and Emu Cinema. As the festival's ticket sales opened, it quickly sold out, recording over 7,000 audience reservations, establishing itself as a representative film festival of Seoul. Organized by the import and distribution company MNM International, the 'Seoul Art House Film Festival' honors art theaters and highlights the cinematic vision of contemporary filmmakers, shedding light on great works in film history and 'art house films'.

The 2nd Seoul Art House Film Festival features a total of 24 films from 14 creators, including the film 〈The Taste of Others〉 by master Hou Hsiao-hsien. Among them, the works of contemporary directors who have released new films this year are also receiving significant attention. First, Kelly Reichardt's 〈The Mastermind〉 is set in 1970s America and reveals class, desire, and social indifference through the story of an unemployed carpenter who commits an 'art theft' at a museum. Reichardt's unique restrained direction and subtle humor intersect, sharply capturing how an individual's small deviation connects to structural fractures.

Jim Jarmusch's 〈Father Mother Sister Brother〉 is an anthology film about family relationships set against different countries. It captures disconnection and reconciliation, identity, and emotional echoes with Jarmusch's characteristic dry humor and poetic rhythm. Featuring a stellar cast including Adam Driver and Cate Blanchett, it creates a calm yet profound emotional texture. This film won the Golden Lion at this year's Venice Film Festival.

Radu Jude's 〈Kontinental '25〉, which will be released nationwide on the opening day of the festival, is a black comedy that dissects the realities of Romanian society, satirizing real estate development, social inequality, and bureaucracy through the tragic situations that arise when a court bailiff is tasked with evicting homeless people. The experimental format shot in 10 days on an iPhone is also noteworthy. It won the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay at this year's Berlin Film Festival and was selected as the opening film for the Jeonju International Film Festival.

Serhiy Loznytsia's 〈Two Prosecutors〉 is a historical drama set during the Great Purge in the Soviet Union in the 1930s, where a young prosecutor confronts the violence and moral collapse of a totalitarian regime while investigating petitions from a labor camp. Loznytsia's unique cold gaze, built through extensive research and bold direction, stands out.