In The Sea of Strange Thoughts- 13th MAiFF

In the Sea of Strange Thoughts

dir. Choi Jeongdan

2025 / Korea /115 mins / Documentary

A 21-year chronicle exploring the strange life and the cosmic thinking about death and life of Kim Uchang, one of Korea's foremost thinkers, who leads a life in complete agreement with his scholarly philosophy. For 40 years, he has been living with his wife Sul Soonbong in a house with lots of steps and a leaky roof, where the open sky and the mountains can be seen. His children urge him to move, but he has no such intention. It’s because, according to his children, Kim believes that what remains unchanged is ethically right and that comfort is evil. The house, therefore, represents Kim himself. He keeps all the things inherited from his parents. One day, an accident occurs, leaving his wife bedridden. He runs the household by himself, but as his own body grows frail, caring for his wife becomes an arduous struggle. He is engrossed in thought, trying to write his final book, 『The Horizon of Things and Being』, but has yet to deliver the manuscript to the publisher. What meaning do things and his house hold for him? Can he ever complete his final book?