Director HUR Jin-Ho; Screenplay OH Seung-Wook, SHIN Dong-Hwan, HUR Jin-Ho; Cinematographer Yoo Young-Kil; Producer TCHA Sung-Jai; Cast HAN Suk-Kyu, SHIM Eun-Ha, SHIN Koo, OH Ji-Hae, LEE Han-Wi

Winner of Best Film Prize at the 1998 Korean Film Awards, CHRISTMAS IN AUGUST utilizes its intricate command of popular melodrama to create a measured, almost painterly reflection on ordinary, undramatic reality, the approach of death, and the beginning of love. Jung-Won is a terminally ill photographer in Seoul, stuck developing children’s pictures of their classroom crushes, creating portraits for funeral altars, and amiably bickering with Darim, an attractive meter maid who photographs parking violators. Quietly spending time with his father or past friends, Jung-Won has learned to live gracefully with death, until his relationship with Darim opens up a different possibility, one created out of the beauty, and sadness, of love. Weaving elemental themes of death and love into measured, miniature glimpses of everyday life, debut director Hur Jin-Ho (the acclaimed screenwriter of festival hit A SINGLE SPARK) refreshingly invests this time-worn material with a controlled, natural feel. Steadfastly ignoring any hint of tears or pretension, he captures riveting, delicate performances from his two lead actors. An astonishing success in Korea, CHRISTMAS IN AUGUST also garnered the Best Director, Actress, and Photography Prizes at the Korean Film Awards, and is dedicated to the memory of legendary cinematographer Yoo Young-Kil, who passed away after filming was complete.

—Jason Sanders

Presented with Korean Center Inc. of San Francisco and San Francisco Film Society