ABSTRACT
Kim Bo-ra’s House of Hummingbird (2018) and Yoon Dan-bi’s Moving On (2020) mark significant debuts from emerging female directors in South Korea, injecting a refreshing perspective into contemporary Korean cinema through a lens of cine-feminism. This chapter delves into the films’ exploration of the nuanced significance of space and the home. In the historical context of South Korean cinema, domestic spaces have often symbolized urban modernity, capitalist desire, or uncanny anxiety. However, both films challenge this narrative, asking, “What new political, aesthetic, and ethical possibilities can emerge within these spaces when viewed through a female gaze and engagement?” House of Hummingbird depicts the crises faced by a middle-class family in 1990s Seoul, while Moving On redefines the intimacy of the house by exploring transgenerational memory traces on the brink of disappearance. Despite differing aesthetics, both films employ a cine-feminist approach, reshaping the home as an affective and relational realm. Through the female gaze, they navigate the intricate relationship between seeing, feeling, and mobility within the urban landscape, offering insights into evolving familial dynamics in South Korean society. This chapter provides a concise analysis of these films, highlighting their significant contributions to the exploration of cine-feminism in South Korean cinema.
