Citizen of a kind (South Korea, 2024, 114′)

International title: Citizen of a Kind
Original title: Simin Deok-hee
Director, screenplay: Park Young-ju
Photography: Lee Hyung-bin
Editing: Kim Sun-min
Music: Hwang Sang-jun
Sound: Park Yong-ki
Cast: Ra Mi-ran, Gong Myeong, Yeom Hye-ran, Park Byung-eun
Production: Baek Chang-ju, Chung Jae-yun
Distribution: Showbox

After losing her laundromat to a fire, Deok-hee goes to a bank seeking a loan. Her attempts are in vain until she receives a call from an employee of that same bank who presents a generous limited-time offer: Deok-hee accepts, unaware that she has fallen victim to a voice-phishing scam. Desperate and left completely penniless, she turns to the police, but she finds herself homeless with her children. Until one day, she receives a new and unexpected call from the same hustler, Jae-min, who is himself trapped by the criminal organization he worked for. Without hesitation, Deok-hee takes a flight with her colleagues to Qingdao to save Jae-min and recover her money. 

Park Young-ju. Born in 1985, after studying direction at Korea National University of Arts, she was invited, in 2016, to the first section of Cannes film festival’s Cinéfondation to present her short film 1 Kilogram. Her debut movie, Second Life, which follows a high school girl who moves to a new town and adopts a new identity, premiered at the Busan International Film Festival in 2018. Citizen of a Kind is his second long feature film.

Filmography: 1 Kilogram (sf, 2016), Second Life (2018), Citizen of a Kind (2024).