A 10-year-old aspiring violinist, her troubled teenage brother, and their newly single mother immigrate from Seoul to flee their abusive father only to find that navigating the disillusions of their American dreams might just bring them back to the very thing they tried to escape.
The summer of 1995. In the outskirts of Seoul lives a family plagued by their alcoholic father and the reminisce of his failed dreams as a violinist. Their hardened mother, Myung-Hee, and her rebellious son, Ji-Hoon do everything to keep this from Ha-Eun, his 10-year-old who idolizes her father in her fantastical daydreams. When Myung-Hee and her two children are selected for the U.S. visa lottery, Ha-Eun tearfully leaves her father behind grasping onto his promise that he will join her in America if she gets a solo on stage.
They leave this virulent life behind, departing for Maryland to live with Myung-Hee’s older brother and his family. In this new world, seemingly brimming with opportunities, our newcomers set out to make their dreams come true. But their chase leads them to the inevitable disillusions of being a foreigner and ultimately tests the only refuge they have – their family.
Christina YR Lim is a Korean-American writer/director who explores Asian diasporas through fish-out-of-water, genre-bending stories. Lim began in theatre before turning to film, earning her MFA from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts.
She has been a fellow of The Black List & WIF Feature Residency, Yale’s directing lab, Cine Qua Non’s Storylines Lab, and EAVE's Ties That Bind, participating in TCCF in Taipei and the Far East Film Market in Italy. Recently, her script GYOPO was selected for Wscripted's Cannes Screenplay List at the Cannes Film Market. Her films have been selected at Bentonville, RiverRun, Cinequest, and Catalina Film Festival, among others. She also co-directed SAMIR, a feature film funded and distributed by Warner Bros.
Lim's first feature film as an auteur, B-SIDE: FOR TAYLOR was distributed by Buffalo 8 and EST Studios and released in May 2024. Most recently, she filmed a proof-of-concept for her feature, GYOPO as a recipient of The Black List x GM incubator fund. She will be an upcoming fellow of the Stowe x Sidewalk Story Lab, and Reykjavík International Film Festival’s Talent Lab.
Wscripted 2024 - Cannes Screenplay List
The Black List x WIF Feature Residency
The Script Lab - finalist
The Academy Nicholl Fellowship - semifinalist
The Launch Pad - top 50
Executive Producer - Matthew R Cooper
Executive Producer - Anna Dragoo
Producer - Kimberly Hwang
Cinematographer - Ed Wu
