Cold Open · Essay · aug 31, 2023

Return to Seoul (2022): A Conversation With Davy Chou

Davy Chou's Return to Seoul is one of the great films about identity: a story about adoption that refuses the comforting narrative we usually get, following a French-Korean woman who returns to her country of birth without any idea what she's looking for. Inspired by a close friend's experience, Chou speaks with Sophie about the challenge of writing a strong female Asian lead as a male director, about directing in a country and language that weren't his own, and about why the most important thing was to let the film be as strange and unresolved as the experience itself.

By Elliot Bloom

Film Journalist · Celebrating Cinema

Inspired by the experiences of a close friend, Davy Chou decided to make a film about her non-stereotypical adoption story, the likes of which we hardly ever get to see on screen. Speaking to host Sophie, Chou reflects on directing a film in a country and language that he wasn’t familiar with, and the difficult process he went through as a male writer to create the strong Asian female lead character of his second feature film Return to Seoul.

Subscribe to our podcast

Partnership with MUBI

We are delighted to announce our new partnership with MUBI, a curated streaming platform. Together, we offer you 30 days free to watch hand-picked films discussed in the ongoing podcast series, a LAB111 podcast celebrating the intricate wonders of cinema.