The film follows Ji-hwan’s search for inspiration for his new novel, during which he meets old friend and fellow novelist Han-sung. He follows him into a mysterious valley but then loses his tracks. To his dismay, he later discovers that Han-sung has long since passed away.

Directed, written and edited by KIM Kyul, the film received KRW 35 million (USD 30,000) in production funds from Dongseo University and featured the participation of 23 students from the college. The cast includes JANG In-sub, YANG Jiiung, NAM Yeon-woo, KIM Gyeong-min and LEE Su-bin. The film beat out three other contenders in the Foreign Film category, including Brown Willy, Kollwein’s Day and Broke.

Dongseo University, a private research university in Busan, features the IM Kwon-taek College of Film & Performing Arts which boasts the legendary director of 102 Korean films, including Seopyeonje (1993), Chunhyang (2000) and most recently Revivre (2015), as Professor Emeritus.

The Maryland event welcomed 140 films from 26 countries over April 1st to 3rd in Hagerstown. The festival’s best film prize was earned by Michael Wilson’s Showing Roots, featuring Maggie Grace and Kerry Cahill, which also served as the closing film.