Paradise Lost, Hur Bum-wook's Last Film: Korea Oct. 21

Two Korean films open in theaters on Oct. 21. One was made for about 500 million won ($374,000) by a crew of about 20 people. The other took a decade to finish, and its director died before audiences could see it.

Yeon Sang-ho's "Paradise Lost" stars Kim Hyun-joo as So-young, a mother whose son Sun-woo vanished nine years ago with 12 other children on a school bus. She gets through each day with a virtual version of him on an augmented reality program. Then a grown Sun-woo, played by Bae Hyeon-seong in his first film lead, comes home as a stranger. The film premiered in the Special Presentations section of the Toronto International Film Festival in September and screened at the Busan International Film Festival.

Yeon shot it in 14 days. It follows "The Ugly," his 220 million won independent film, whose success let him share incentives with staff and actors. "Trying to replace what you've lost always has two sides," he told The Korea Times. He said the story began as a three-page draft his mother wrote, and that making the film was his way of trying to understand it.

Hur Bum-wook's "Pig That Survived Foot-and-Mouth Disease" is an animated feature about H, a pig that climbs out of a mass burial pit during a disease outbreak and wants to become human, and Jeong-seok, a military deserter who has decided to become a beast. Hur wrote, directed, edited and produced it. The actors Nam Doh-hyeong and Han Woo-jin performed 30 roles through motion capture.

The film premiered at France's Annecy International Animation Film Festival in 2024 and has been invited to 35 festivals, including Sitges. It was nominated for best animated film at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. At home, it won best feature at the 50th Seoul Independent Film Festival, the first animated feature to win that award, and a special mention at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival. It opened in 11 theaters in Japan on May 29.

Hur died on July 28 at 43, five days after an accidental fire. A press screening set for July 24 was canceled that morning, and the Aug. 5 release was postponed. His first feature, "On the White Planet," won the grand prize for best feature at the Holland Animation Film Festival in 2014. His distributor, Indiestory, set the new date after the family and crew had time to grieve.

Yeon, the director of "Train to Busan," met Hur 15 or 16 years ago, when Hur was a student and Yeon was teaching animation. He told The Korea Times on Oct. 14 that he knew the two films would open the same day. "I hope people discover director Hur's true artistic value through this movie," he said.

Both films open Wednesday in Korean theaters. "Paradise Lost" is distributed by CJ ENM and "Pig That Survived Foot-and-Mouth Disease" by Indiestory.