Taste of Loess
Yejun LIM
Korea | 30min | 2K | Color | Fiction | (2027)
Production.
50J Films
Genre.
Cult, Drama.
Project Status.
Pre-Production
Goal for next.
Fundraising, Networking
Total Budget
€ 18,000
Budget Required.
€ 15,000
-Incheon Film Councile Short film fund 2026
L O G L I N E
Miguel, an introverted Hispanic youth and K-pop fan who comes to a village built of Korean red earth for cancer treatment, discovers that the village is a cult and decides to become a threat to it instead.
S Y N O P S I S
Miguel, a 26-year-old diagnosed with cancer, comes to Korea to fulfill his last wish of seeing a K-pop concert, but instead arrives at a small "Red Clay Village" on Ganghwa Island. There, a superstitious cure exists that claims to heal cancer. However, the village landscape is utterly bizarre. People pray without medicine, wear hemp clothes, and immerse themselves in red mud. Unwashable red mud stains begin to spread across Miguel's body as well.
In this strange land where he cannot even speak the language, even Miyu, the only one who tried to help him, pushes him away with the cold words, "No one has ever left this place." Between his body, which is frail day by day, and the deceptive villagers, Miguel feels a deep sense of isolation. One day, amidst a torrential downpour, Miguel, consumed by emotions on the verge of explosion, chases after Miyu across the red mud field only to crash into the mud. With his entire body stained red and vivid blood flowing from his knees, Miguel feels alive for the first time in his life and bursts into a maniacal laugh in the rain.
DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
Taste of Loess explores the "universal alienation" experienced by modern people through the unique subject matter of Korean cults and alternative medicine. For the protagonist, Miguel, what is more fatal than cancer is the fundamental loneliness of belonging neither to his hometown nor to a foreign land. He clings to bizarre Red Clay rituals in an attempt to belong to the village, but eventually, realizing that he belongs nowhere, he finally finds freedom.
This film goes beyond merely observing a terminally ill foreigner; it allows the audience to discover, through Miguel's eyes, the profound sense of isolation they may have felt in the corners of the world. It aims to offer Korean audiences the experience of viewing familiar society through the eyes of an outsider, while providing international audiences with solace regarding the microscopic yet universal alienation encountered in unfamiliar spaces. The image of Miguel bursting into laughter while covered in mud amidst a torrential downpour symbolizes the most intense sense of relief and pleasure that comes from acknowledging one's sense of alienation and accepting oneself.
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