A shoemaker named Ki-hwang chances upon a half-naked young man, Seung-woo, stranded in an alleyway. He learns the craft of shoemaking from Ki-hwang and works as an assistant. Meanwhile, Ki-hwang goes to collect debts but only meets the store owner’s wife Min-jung. Suffering from debt calls, Min-jung leaves home, leaving her young daughter Eun-hye behind. Min-jung soon gets in a car accident, and she passes away in front of her own daughter. Months later, Eun-hye meets her step-mother Jin. Jin wants to order a pair of new shoes for Eun-hye and comes to visit Ki-hwang’s shoe shop.

This film is about helping others in spite of hardship. No false hope, no theatrical exaggeration. Instead of casting professional actors, I worked with real shoemakers. I was able to capture up-close the masterful skills of a pair of working hands and a face of a man fully immersed in his art. I believed that the art of making shoes with one’s hands is already cinematic, and I intended to make the film as if making the shoes.

World Premiere