Hana Korea, an impressive migration drama making its world premiere at Busan International Film Festival, centres on a North Korean woman as she escapes the totalitarian regime of her homeland and meets the bracingly modern world of South Korea.
The feature is inspired by the real life experiences of Hyesun, and offers a moving portrayal of her struggles and triumphs and, on a broader level, explores themes of freedom, identity, and sacrifice as the Northerner adapts to the new life and cultural norms most of us take for granted – such as credit cards and western-style democracy.
With its glacially cool aesthetic, artful framing and pared down dialogue Hana Korea is directed by Danish filmmaker and musician Frederik Sølberg who embues this follow-up to his first feature Doel with an idiosyncratic minimalist Danish style, although the tone morphs into more intense territory in the final act.
It soon emerges Hyesun has made her way from north to South Korea by swimming across a river in China to claim asylum. She will undergo rigorous checks and an invasive medical before being granted citizenship.
After a sympathetic welcome from the local authorities Hyesun is then escorted to a comfortable room at Hanawon. Unlike the North, South Korea is a highly sophisticated country with advanced educational standards. There is a lot for the young woman to experience and assimilate, from simple things like learning how to apply make-up. But she is determined to overcome all this and train to be a nurse despite the steep learning curve compared to her native North.
Sympathetically played by Minha Kim, Hyesun initially fronts up well with a poker-faced stoicism gradually permeated by poignant disappointment when her brother refuses to engage with her putting down the ‘phone during a brief telephone conversation: he fears any contact will result in recrimination at the hands of the North Korean authorities. Desperately missing her family and concerned for their frail mother, Hyesun feels trapped between a rock and a hard place in this brash modern world where freedom means standing on your own two feet free from the constraints of the totalitarian regime where, despite the lifestyle, she felt protected by definite guidelines. In an unexpected display of emotion Hyesun is overwhelmed by homesickness and flings herself into the arms of the kind man who awarded her ‘leave to remain’. How will she cope with this new and radically different world so far removed from its neighbour in the North?. Despite veering into melodrama in the final stretch Hana Korea is a compulsive study of migration and its surprising consequences @MeredithTaylor
BUSAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2025