House of Hummingbird

Set in 1994 in Seoul, a touching coming-of-age drama centered around the quiet, unexceptional eighth-grader Eun-Hee (Ji-hu Park). Struggling to make passing grades and subject to non-stop screaming at home, she spends her time finding meaning in the love and friendships of her peers, in shoplifting, and in karaoke bars.

It’s in her cram school professor Yong-Ji (Sae-byeok Kim), however, that Eun-Hee finds the answers that she seeks, as the two form an unlikely friendship.

In her feature debut, Bora Kim puts Korean culture and mores on display, gently criticizing the reduced role where women are pressured to exist. The film’s measured pace allows it to examine the many moments between despair, contrasting the joy of adolescence with its miseries.