Night Flight (2014 film)

Plot

Three teenage boys Shin Yong-joo, Han Ki-woong and Ko Ki-taek, were once best friends in middle school, but they become estranged from each other once they enter high school. While Yong-joo and Ki-taek still remain close, Ki-woong becomes a jjang (Korean slang term meaning "best"), one of the strongest fighters in the school, and begins to hang out with Sung-jin's gang (Sung-jin's parents are powerful figures, making him a bigwig among his schoolmates). Yong-joo becomes concerned when he finds out that Sung-jin's gang is mercilessly bullying Ki-taek, an eccentric manhwa fan. Under intense pressure to get into a prestigious university because of his financially struggling single mother, Yong-joo develops an unlikely relationship with Ki-woong, who tries to break away from Sung-jin. But when Ki-taek learns that Yong-joo is gay, he betrays his friend and joins Sung-jin's gang in ostracizing him, telling them that Yong-joo has loved Ki-woong for years.

Cast

Production

Leesong Hee-il is Korea's top queer cinema director, and this was his fourth feature. He said he found the motif of the film from a CCTV video clip, which showed a high school student crying in an elevator just before he killed himself. After seeing that, Leesong decided to make a film exploring teenage sexual minorities and the dehumanization they face in order to survive the bullying and violence they experience at school.

Film festivals

Besides the Berlinale, Night Flight also screened at the 38th Hong Kong International Film Festival, the 7th CinemAsia Film Festival in Amsterdam, the 29th Torino GLBT Film Festival, the 15th Jeonju International Film Festival, the 68th Edinburgh International Film Festival, the 47th Sitges Film Festival, the 34th Hawaii International Film Festival, and the 25th Stockholm International Film Festival.