Forever the Moment(HKAFF 2021)

After years of making acclaimed indies, Yim Soon-rye proved she could fill cinemas as well with this surprise hit based on the inspiring feats of the South Korea Women’s National Handball Team that won silver at the 2004 Athens Olympics. The sports drama bears classic genre tropes of an underdog team of veteran players and younger upstarts coming together to defy the odds, but it’s first and foremost a story about women. The rousing film focuses on the on-and-off-court struggles of the older athletes for whom glory is brief and hard-won. Returning to competition, the working mothers face additional challenges and biases due to their age and family situations.