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Water Lilies

Logline :
The water lilies blooms, even in the filthiest waters.
Amid the mire of selfish desires and the indifference to others’ suffering,
hope begins to bloom anew in the fleeting moment when we recognize the humanity within one another.

Synopsis :
Hyowon, who dreams of becoming an actress, runs away to Seoul with Eunseo, a high school dropout. The two girls step into the sprawling city with their fragile hopes, clutching at its promises like lifelines. Their first home is a basement room, dim and shabby, the air thick and heavy, but to them, it is a sanctuary, a nest of possibilities.
Eunseo begins working odd jobs to keep them afloat, while
Hyowon, drawn by her dream, takes on menial tasks at a theater company. They are buoyed by their own visions of tomorrow, their dreams threading through the cracks in the worn walls.
Soon, Hyowon starts taking acting lessons from Suyeon, a lead actress at the theater.
Suyeon’s voice is steady, her words sharp: "Acting is the art of embodying another’s suffering." Hyowon listens, but the weight of those words eludes her. She cannot yet grasp the depths of Eunseo’s pain, nor can Eunseo fully see hers.
The two drift, parallel yet apart, their lives entangled by need and longing but marred by unspoken distance.
The city presses in, relentless. Their lives fracture under the strain of survival, yet questions linger in the spaces between them. What does it mean to carry someone else’s sorrow? What does it mean to live with your own?
For them, life is an unanswered question, fragile as the surface of water, trembling under the weight of its own reflections.

  • Chanho LEE
    Director
  • Jungbum Park
    Writer
  • Chanho Lee
    Writer
  • Jiyoon Oh
    Producer
  • Hyowon Lee
    Key Cast
    "Hyowon"
  • Eunseo Choi
    Key Cast
    "Eunseo"
  • Seungyeon Lee
    Key Cast
    "Suyeon"
  • Incheol Park
    Key Cast
    "Incheol"
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 58 minutes 38 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 1, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    100,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    South Korea
  • Country of Filming:
    South Korea
  • Language:
    Korean
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1.85:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • Festival Ecuatoriano Turicine
    Quito
    Ecuador
    July 19, 2025
    Quito premiere
    Competencia oficial
  • Festival Internacional de Cine Bajo la Luna de Islantilla
    Islantilla (Lepe e Isla Cristina)
    Spain
    July 5, 2025
    Huelva premiere
    official selection premiere
  • Cine del Mar
    Punta del Este
    Uruguay
    July 4, 2025
    Maldonado premiere
    Best Script Winner, Best Actress Winner
  • Esto Es Para Esto - Exhibidora de Cine
    Monterrey
    Mexico
    June 30, 2025
    Monterrey premiere
    official selection
  • Social World Film Festival
    Vico Equense
    Italy
    June 26, 2025
    Napoli premiere
    OFF FESTIVAL
  • Zion International Film Festival
    Tacoma
    United States
    June 29, 2025
    WA premiere
    official selection
  • Universe Multicultural Film Festival
    Palos Verdes Peninsula
    United States
    June 20, 2025
    Palos Verdes Peninsula premiere
    Best Feature Film
  • Bridges Loutraki International Festival
    Loutraki
    Greece
    June 19, 2025
    Loutraki Premiere
    official selection
  • International Festival of Red Cross and Health Films
    Varna
    Bulgaria
    June 14, 2025
    Bulgaria Premiere
    official selection
  • 5th Niagara Canada International Film Festival
    Niagara Falls
    Canada
    June 6, 2025
    Niagara Falls Premiere
    official selection
  • iDEAL INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
    Sillod
    India
    May 25, 2025
    Sillod Premiere
    Best Director Award, Best feature film Award(Foreign Film)
  • Independent and Experimental Film Festival of Kerala
    Calicut
    India
    May 13, 2025
    Calicut Premiere
    official selection
  • Cine Pobre Film Festival
    San Mateo Río Hondo
    Mexico
    May 4, 2025
    San Mateo Río Hondo Premiere
    official selection
  • Beyond Hollywood International Film Festival
    Los Angeles
    United States
    May 3, 2025
    Los Angeles Premiere
    official selection
  • Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festval
    Greater Noida
    India
    April 30, 2025
    Greater Noida Premiere
    Honorable Jury Mention
  • Indie Vegas Film Festival
    Las Vegas
    United States
    April 26, 2025
    Las Vegas Premiere
    official selection
  • Moscow International Film Festival
    Moscow
    Russian Federation
    April 18, 2025
    Rusia Premiere
    Out-of-Competition Program, RUSSIAN TRACE
  • New Bedford Film Festival
    New Bedford
    United States
    April 12, 2025
    New Bedford Premiere
    BEST DIRECTOR Winner
  • Las Cruces International Film
    Las Cruces
    United States
    April 11, 2025
    Las Cruces Premiere
    feature film official selection
  • Aravali International Film Festival
    New Delhi
    India
    April 4, 2025
    feature film official selection
  • Capital City Film Festival
    Lansing
    United States
    April 5, 2025
    Lansing Premiere
    feature film official selection
  • Greece International Film Festival
    Athens
    Greece
    March 30, 2025
    feature film Honorable Mention
  • NEZ International Film Festival
    KOLKATA
    India
    March 29, 2025
    Bhowanipore Premiere
    Best Director Winner, Feature
  • CEBU INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
    Cebu
    Philippines
    March 2, 2025
    Cebu Premiere
    Best in Long Narrative Award Winner
  • International Star Film Festival Awards
    Kolkata
    India
    March 19, 2025
    Maniktala Premiere
    2nd Best Feature Film Foreign
  • Indian World Film Festival
    Hyderabad
    India
    March 8, 2025
    Hyderabad Premiere
    feature film, Special Festival Mention
  • Bengaluru International Film Festival
    Bengalore
    India
    March 1, 2025
    Bengalore Premiere
    feature film Asian Competition
  • Oxford Film Festival
    Oxford
    United States
    February 27, 2025
    Mississippi Premiere
    official selection
  • Chauri Chaura International Film Festival
    Gorakhpur
    India
    February 22, 2025
    Gorakhpur Premiere
    2nd Best Feature Film International
  • Kashmir International Film and Cultural Festival
    Mumbai
    India
    February 27, 2025
    Andheri West Premiere
    feature film official selection
  • NEW DELHI FILM FESTIVAL
    NEW DELHI
    India
    February 21, 2025
    NEW DELHI Premiere
    Top 7th Feature film Nominee
  • Arraial Cine Fest
    Porto Seguro
    Brazil
    February 17, 2025
    Porto Seguro Premiere
    Best Fiction Feature Film Award
  • Film Festival of Mumbai
    Mumbai
    India
    February 15, 2025
    Mumbai Premiere
    feature film official selection
  • DC Independent Film Festival
    Washington DC
    February 16, 2025
    Washington Premiere
    FEATURES SELECTED IN COMPETITION
  • Noida International Film Festival
    noida
    February 1, 2025
    noida premiere
    Feature film Best Director Award
  • Indian Panorama International Film Festival
    Mumbai
    February 2, 2025
    Mumbai premiere
    official selection
  • Nepal Cultural International Film Festival
    Kathmandu
    January 31, 2025
    Kathmandu premiere
    official selection
  • Caribbean Sea International Film Festival
    Margarita island
    January 20, 2025
    venezuela premiere
    official selection
  • FILUMS International Film Festival
    Lahore
    January 11, 2025
    Lahore premiere
    official selection
  • Hill Film Festival
    Dhaka, Rangamati
    December 26, 2024
    Bangladesh Premiere
    International Competition Best feature film Winner
  • Arjuntala International Film Festival
    South Parganas, Khari
    December 25, 2024
    South Parganas premiere
    Best Asian feature film Winner
  • WRPN Women's International Film Festival
    Rehoboth Beach, Delaware
    Delaware Premiere
    AWARD WINNER DRAMA SECTION Excellence
  • Athens International Digital Film Festival AIDFF
    Athens Gerakas
    December 14, 2024
    Athen Premiere
    International Competition Honorable Mention AWARD
  • Kolkata International Film Festival
    Kolkata
    December 5, 2024
    Asia Premiere
    Official SELECTION: ASIAN SELECT(NETPAC AWARD)
  • Girona Film Festival
    Girona
    November 7, 2024
    spain Premiere
    official selection
  • International Moving Film Festival
    Mexico City
    November 7, 2024
    Mexico Premiere
    Fianlist
  • Salto Independent Film Festival
    Salto
    October 12, 2024
    South American Premiere
    official selection
  • Louisville's International Festival of Film
    Louisville
    October 11, 2024
    North American premiere
    official selection
Distribution Information
  • WaterRelease Pictures
    Distributor
    Country: Korea, Republic of
    Rights: All Rights, Internet, Video on Demand, Pay Per View, Hotel, Airline, Ship, Theatrical, Video / Disc, Free TV, Paid TV, Console / Handheld Device
Director Biography - Chanho LEE

Chan-ho LEE was born in S.KOREA.
He studied film at graduate school of Dongguk University.
He directed five short films.
<Water Lilies> is his first feature film.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

I am a film director. I believe that being a director is about articulating one’s thoughts and visions through words to the crew and collaborating with them to bring those ideas to life.
Together, Our team shape these fragments into a completed work. And only when this creation meets its audience and fosters communication does the film director's journey truly come full circle.
Watch my film. Feel and think freely. All that you perceive becomes your theme, your story, your dialogue, and your beauty.
Then, through our exchange, let us complete the film together, making it whole. This is the message I offer as a film director.
I am a passionate filmmaker who expresses through 'FILM'.
My most recent creation is the feature film 'Water Lilies'

For inquiries or collaborations, feel free to reach out via email or WhatsApp.

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Water Lilies is, on a broader level, a story about the glass ceiling faced by the younger generation. Many young people strive to realize their dreams, only to find themselves up against immense and invisible barriers. The workings of power, laced with human selfishness, may be creating walls that feel insurmountable to them.
In the film, Hyowon simply wants to become a stage actress—even if only for a minor role. Eunseo merely wishes to earn minimum wage through part-time work. These are fundamental, modest human desires. Yet the moment these desires are denied for reasons they cannot understand, these young people are plunged into the depths of despair.
Still, I chose to believe in their resilience. That belief is what led me to create Water Lilies.
The film is also a meditation on pain. Human beings can never fully understand another's suffering. This inability makes communication difficult and often leads to hurting and being hurt. Yet sometimes, just one small step toward opening our hearts can bring us closer to someone else’s pain—and in doing so, offer a sliver of healing. This is how people meet, part ways, and carry on with their lives.
The real problem is that pain induced by society gets transferred from one person to another—until it becomes a cycle of suffering. In Water Lilies, this transmission and chain of pain unfolds like a Möbius strip—endless and interconnected.
And yet, the protagonists possess resilience.
They endure together. They offer each other quiet, gentle acts of recovery. These may be small, even insignificant to some—but to them, they are sacred. They do not force love upon one another, nor do they desperately plead for their pain to be seen. They simply smile when they look into each other’s eyes.
They are water lilies—flowers that bloom by purifying the murky water they grow in.

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History of feature films works
-2024 feature film ‘Water Lilies’ director
-2019 feature film <Height of the Wave>(Director PARK Jeong-Beom) production support
-2015 feature film <Alive>(Director PARK Jeong-Beom) assistant director

History of directing works
-2024 feature film <Water Lilies> director
-2013 short film <Flamenco Nina> director
*2013 14th Jeonju International Film Festival International Competition
*2013 18th Indie Forum
*2013 7th Film Festival for Women's Rights, International Competition
*2013 18th Gwangju Human Rights Film Festival
*2014 13th Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival
*2014 14th Korea Youth Film Festival, INTYFF
*2015 15th Pohang Fine Short Film Festival
-2013 short film <Probie> director
-2012 short film <Who's gonna save me> director
*2012 10th Asiana International Film Festival International Competition
-2009 short film <Visible darkness> director
-2008 short film <The chair that loved me.> director