Main Slate
The Day She Returns
Hong Sangsoo
North American Premiere
Hong Sangsoo returns to themes of aging and the creative pursuit, centering on a middle-aged actress whom we come to know through three spellbinding conversations during a press tour for her first film after years of retirement. Preceded by Kleber Mendonça Filho’s South of Tehran.
- Runtime
- 84 min
- Country
- South Korea
- Language
- Korean
- Year
- 2026
- More information
- Official film page
Screenings
Returning to themes of aging and the creative pursuit, Hong Sangsoo’s 34th feature is a work of uncommon restraint that centers on a middle-aged actress (a mesmerizingly serene Song Sunmi) who has returned to the spotlight after years of retirement. Having starred in her first film following a divorce, she is now giving interviews on a brief press tour, and, in prime minimalist Hong fashion, we come to know her primarily through three of these formal chats—each a single take filmed from the same camera position. More willing to discuss her love of German beer than her recent breakup, she is both guarded and thoughtful, and Hong uses these conversations, which naturally hit similar beats and topics, to explore ideas of performance, repetition, and personal authenticity. As always, Hong’s jewel-like precision creates an effect of hypnotic candor, enhancing both the realism and artifice of everyday life. A Cinema Guild release.
Preceded by:
South of Tehran
Kleber Mendonça Filho, 2026, Brazil/U.S., 8m
Farsi with English subtitles
World Premiere
South of Tehran. Courtesy of Kleber Mendonça Filho.
South of Tehran is the first film in the new NYFF Encounters initiative, a commissioning program that invites a filmmaker in the lineup to create an original short during the course of the festival. This prismatic reflection on cinema and memory emerged from conversations between Kleber Mendonça Filho (The Secret Agent) and Jafar Panahi (It Was Just an Accident), both of whom screened films at the 2025 New York Film Festival.
Returning to themes of aging and the creative pursuit, Hong Sangsoo’s 34th feature is a work of uncommon restraint that centers on a middle-aged actress (a mesmerizingly serene Song Sunmi) who has returned to the spotlight after years of retirement. Having starred in her first film following a divorce, she is now giving interviews on a brief press tour, and, in prime minimalist Hong fashion, we come to know her primarily through three of these formal chats—each a single take filmed from the same camera position. More willing to discuss her love of German beer than her recent breakup, she is both guarded and thoughtful, and Hong uses these conversations, which naturally hit similar beats and topics, to explore ideas of performance, repetition, and personal authenticity. As always, Hong’s jewel-like precision creates an effect of hypnotic candor, enhancing both the realism and artifice of everyday life. A Cinema Guild release.
Preceded by:
South of Tehran
Kleber Mendonça Filho, 2026, Brazil/U.S., 8m
Farsi with English subtitles
World Premiere
South of Tehran. Courtesy of Kleber Mendonça Filho.
South of Tehran is the first film in the new NYFF Encounters initiative, a commissioning program that invites a filmmaker in the lineup to create an original short during the course of the festival. This prismatic reflection on cinema and memory emerged from conversations between Kleber Mendonça Filho (The Secret Agent) and Jafar Panahi (It Was Just an Accident), both of whom screened films at the 2025 New York Film Festival.