Cannes Directors′ Fortnight, APM 2014 SelectionLove/RomancePsychology/Mystery/Suspence/ThrillerComing of AgeWomen
Eighteen-year-old Dora (Kim Doyeon), unable to attend school because of a severe psychogenic skin condition, has come with her parents to a summer house in Namhae. There, she spends time with Yeon-su (Song Saebyeok), a painter who studied under her father Sang-hun (Choi Wonyoung), Yeon-su’s Japanese wife Nami (Ando Sakura), and their twin children. Dora, an enigmatic figure who seems hollowed out from within, appears to feel every shift in circumstance and emotion through her skin, and to express it through her skin as well, as her severe rashes repeatedly flare up and subside. Dora’s condition feels like a cruel curse, something one might want to look away from - and yet, strangely, one’s eyes keep being drawn back to her. Dora, in turn, finds herself drawn to Nami, who has battled breast cancer. Director July Jung’s Dora traces the emergence and dynamics of strange desire through its striking central character, Dora, who harbors both pain and secrets. The estrangement between body and mind; the strange ecstasy and pleasure sparked by and discovered in pain; growth and regression; surging and sinking - all are thrown together within a single character and within the film itself, generating a peculiar energy. Newcomer Kim Doyeon more than holds her own, while the superb Ando Sakura matches her intensity, sending waves of passion surging through the film.
Programme note by JEONG Jihye
Stills4
Screenings4
Fri, 10/09
12:1014:53
Busan Cinema Center Haneulyeon Theatre
165Guest Q&AKE, Korean subtitles + English subtitles or English dialogue
Mon, 10/12
13:0015:18
CGV Centum City 3
494KE, Korean subtitles + English subtitles or English dialogue
Tue, 10/13
10:0012:18
CGV Centum City 3
582KE, Korean subtitles + English subtitles or English dialogue
Wed, 10/14
18:3021:13
Busan Cinema Center Cinema 1
651Guest Q&AKE, Korean subtitles + English subtitles or English dialogue
July Jung made her directorial debut with A Girl at My Door (2014), which premiered in Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival and drew international attention, going on to win the Best New Director at both the Buil Film Awards and the Baeksang Arts Awards, among others. Her second feature, Next Sohee (2022), screened as the closing film of Critics' Week at the Cannes Film Festival and earned wide critical acclaim, winning the Best Director and the Best New Actress Award at the Buil Film Awards, and the Best Screenplay award at the Baeksang Arts Awards. Her third feature, Dora (2026), was selected for Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival and is currently awaiting its theatrical release in Korea. With all three of her films having screened at the Cannes Film Festival, Jung became the first South Korean female director to achieve this distinction.
From Busan International Film Festival 2026, No. 31
