Filmmaker
Features Film (In developing)
MAIDEN HOME
메이든홈
Logline
After ten years of marriage to an “imported” bride, a Korean man visits his wife’s homeland in Indonesia. He becomes vulnerable in a foreign land and sees his control shaken to family as a stranger. The wife's ritual begins, Children start speaking the local language. His patriarchal power is overthrown, only to discover a new face of her.
Synopsis
A middle-aged Korean man Jongsu (56) visits Indonesia for the new year holidays with his wife Yuli (29), who was ‘imported’ from there as his bride a decade ago. Early on in their marriage, he could not trust Yuli and took away her passport to prevent her escape.
But now, after having two children and living together for 10 years, they live as an ordinary married couple. In wife’s village which he first visited, He feels uncomfortable about the cultural differences from eating habits to funeral culture and feels he is gradually losing control over his family as the head of the family there. One day, he takes an unexpected turn when his daughter Dami (10) suddenly falls ill. His mother-in-law Putri (54) and Yuli perform a curing ritual on Dami, which seems all too dubious to him. The next day of ritual, the daughter, who recovered from her illness, speaks local language fluently and hangs out with the neighborhood kids. His suspicion grows as his son Yougeun (6) develops the same symptoms as Dami. Jongsu flees from the ritual with his son, but Yuli’s tribe begins to chase him, and he eventually recognizes the hidden truth about the rite and its offering.
Countries
KOREA, INDONESIA, MALAYSIA
Genres
MYSTERY, THRILLER, HORROR, SOCIAL ISSUE
Languages
KOREAN, BAHASA INDONESIA
Director’s Notes
In Korea, where the male-to-female sex ratio is uneven as a result of a long-standing preference for boys and abortion of females, From the 80s, the Korean government began a program to encourage marriage by finding international brides. Buying a spouse from abroad is the last option for old men to have an heir. But these relationships between couples are based on the imbalance of power that consists of money, age, sex, country.
I have thought that much of the imbalance in their relationship is due to the wife’s unilateral incorporation into her husband’s country and life. So what if the husband goes to his wife’s homeland? This story stems from this question. Maiden Home depicts a power structure reversal. The husband turns as vulnerable as his wife had been and his dominance falters.
Milestone
NAFF Market
Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (2023)
- VIPO Award
Talents Tokyo (2023)
KEY PERSONS
Director / Writer | SINN Kirin |
South Korea
SINN Kirin is a director, screenwriter, and visual arts planner based in Seoul, South Korea.
She holds a bachelor's degree in Multimedia/Animation from Korea National University of
Arts and a Master's in filmmaking at Luca School of Arts in Belgium.
With 10 years of experience in the advertising industry as a creative director and
videographer, she has directed corporate campaign videos, brand films, TV commercials,
and art exhibitions.
Kirin made her debut with the short film "O Ki-in's Sin, Misattribution" (2014), which
received esteemed recognition including the Jury Grand Prize and Lighting Award at the 4th
Chungmuro Short Film Festival, as well as the Bronze Award at the 14th Korea Youth Film
Festival. This film was also selected as a Finalist Nominee at the 10th Jeju Film Festival and
as a candidate for the Korean Short Film Special Selection at the 15th Gwangju
International Film Festival.
Her latest short film, "Abnormal Prime Time" (2021), received production support from the
Korea Creative Content Agency and had its world premiere at the Minikino Bali International
Short Film Festival. It was officially selected for various film festivals such as the
International Thai Film Festival, Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival, Wench Film
Festival, and TerrorMolins SECCIÓ GLOBUS in 2022-2023. Additionally, the film won the
editing award at the 12th Chungmuro Short Film Festival.
Since graduating from the Bifan Fantastic Film School in 2022, Kirin has been developing
her first feature film, "Maiden Home," which has been selected for the NAFF IT Project
Market, Talent Tokyo and awarded VIPO award in Bucheon Fantastic Film Festival. and it
was selected for the Brussels Genre Film Market Fantastic Pitchbox at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival in 2024.
Co-Writer | Kevin RAHARDJO |
Indonesia
Kevin RAHARDJO (b. 1999) is a screenwriter, director and producer based in Jakarta, Indonesia. Currently he is working as a screenwriter at Come and See Pictures founded by Joko Anwar & Tia Hasibuan.
Rahardjo takes on the role of a producer for Rafki Hidayat’s first feature film, ‘Parasomnia,’ which earned the NAFF Award for Best Project at BIFAN NAFF Project Market 2023. Additionally, he serves as a screenwriter for Sinn Kirin’s feature project ‘Maiden Home,’ which received the VIPO Award at BIFAN NAFF Project Market 2023.
His recent graduation short ‘Accidentally Intentional’ premiered at Palm Springs International ShortFest 2023 and in-competition at Nashville Film Festival, Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival and Minikino Film Week.
Producer | CHENG Thim Kian |
Malaysia
CHENG Thim Kian is a Malaysian Chinese film producer and director. He has been selected for the Kyoto Filmmaker Lab (2015) and the Asian Film Academy (2016); held in high regard for the latter, he was awarded with the Dongseo University Scholarship Fund. In 2018, he is one of four directors selected for the Golden Horse Film Academy. Thim Kian is one of only 33 filmmakers selected from across Asia for the 2021 International Film Business Academy of Busan Asian Film School (AFiS). Recently, Thim Kian just attended Fantastic Film School at Bucheon International Film Festival.
Thim Kian also is a filmmaker who works mostly as a producer and assistant director. Most recently, he co-produced a feature film, STONE TURTLE (dir by WOO Ming Jin) has its world premiere and won the FIPRESCI award in the Locarno International Film Festival 2022. Besides director WOO, Thim Kian working experiences with internationally acclaimed Malaysian directors included but not limited to Edmund YEO, CHONG Keat Aun, and James LEE as well as foreign director like Yukisada Isao. He was involved with a few projects that went to a few film festivals around the world. Notably films directed by Edmund Yeo, MALU (2020), AQERAT (2017); The Story of Southern Islet (2020, dir by Chong Keat Aun); Two Sisters (2019, dir James Lee); Fly by Night (2018, dir Zahir Omar); Pigeon (2016, dir Isao Yukisada, Segment from Asian Three-Fold Mirror project); Second Life of Thieves (2014, dir Woo Ming Jin).
