Mal Mo E: The Secret Mission(HKAFF 2019)

In the early 1940s when the Korean language was banned from schools and at risk of disappearing, two men of very different backgrounds set out to publish a Korean dictionary. Ryoo Jung-hwan, an academic from a wealthy pro-Japanese family, is secretly compiling a dictionary at the Korean Language Society. Folksy ex-convict Kim Pan-soo can’t read or write, but his street smarts may be just what’s needed to get the job done – if the Japanese colonial government doesn’t get to them first. A Taxi Driver screenwriter Eom Yu-na makes her directorial debut with this uncommon story of resistance that balances history, heroics, heart and humor to illustrate the great significance of language to a people and a nation.