Return to Seoul

Story

The portrait of a woman in suspense, between return and restart in a country that is at once both home and abroad. Freddie was born in Korea, but adopted as a child by a French couple. In her mid-20s she returns, gets to know the country and tries hesitantly to make contact with her biological parents. In doing so, she not only reaches the limits of language and cultural idiosyncrasies, but also keeps alienating her hosts. The film accompanies Freddie closely on her quest, as she tries on and discards identities, reinvents and loses herself again, while each return to Seoul brings out different facets, both of her and of the country.

Director

DAVY CHOU (*1983 in France) is a French film-maker with Cambodian roots. His grandfather Van Chann was a producer in the golden 1960s of Cambodian film, before he disappeared without trace. Chou examined this epoch in his documentary Golden Slumbers (2012). In 2022, Return to Seoul ran in the section Un certain regard in Cannes.