// Presented as part of June’s Filmatique Talents II Series //

Park Hee-kwon / 2019, Tallinn Black Nights / 78'

Hae-su works at a factory on the outskirts of Seoul. Returning home from work, she makes a phone call that goes to voicemail; nearing her residence, another phone call comes in, but she doesn't pick up. Inside the house is her mother's body—she died from mysterious circumstances. A knock on the door goes unanswered, but when a plainclothes police officer arrives, Hae-su lets him in. An exchange of documents, uncertain glances. With Hae-su and her tempermental brother the only attendants at her mother's funeral, there are more questions than answers.

Suspended in an uneasy atmosphere of mystery, intrigue, and narrative minimalism, Dust and Ashes doubles as an intelligent thriller and a insidious critique of hierarchies of power and privilege in South Korea. Park Hee-kwon's feature film debut premiered at Tallinn Black Nights.