Lim Daehyung’s Acclaimed Japan-Set Indie Romance Continues to Find Global Audiences

Lim Daehyung’s indie hit Moonlit Winter (2019), starring Kim Heeae and Kim Sohye, was released theatrically in Japan on January 7.

The second film from Director Lim, Moonlit Winter had its world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival, where it served as the closing film of its 2019 edition. The film was largely set and shot in Otaru, a town in Japan’s northern Hokkaido province, and it is partly influenced by the modern Japanese classic Love Letter, one of the most successful Japanese films ever to screen in Korea.

Kim Heeae stars as Yoonhee, a recent divorcée whose daughter Saebom (Kim Sohye) discovers a secret letter she received from Hokkaido in Japan. Saebom, who is curious about her mother’s past and worried about her current depression, convinces Yoonhee to travel to Japan and seek out the letter’s sender.

The film was a significant low-budget hit in Korea, where it welcomed over 120,000 viewers on limited release. It went on to be a major contender at local industry awards events, earning Best Director and Screenplay at the Blue Dragon Film Awards and the Korean Association of Film Critics Awards, and Best Producer at the Wildflower Film Awards Korea, among other prizes. 

Distributor Little Big Pictures revealed that Yūko Nakamura and Sho Yakumura, who played the Japanese characters Jun and Ryusuke in the film, participated in a stage event to promote the film’s Japanese release following a screening held on January 8.