Huiju learned of her biopsy test results, but lied to her mum about them. Feeling guilty about the lie, she embarks on her journey to find cancer patients who have the same diagnosis as hers and learns about their experiences.

Bitter Cells chronicles the director's dual journey following her ovarian cancer diagnosis. One path leads her to connect with others who share same diagnosis or have survived it, while the other involves the delicate process of preparing to inform her unsuspecting mother. These parallel narratives converge through the director's compelling efforts to illuminate the complex story of women's bodies and illness. This documentary offers a powerful lens through which we witness the prejudices and oppression that women and their bodies endure in everyday life. Simultaneously, it captures extraordinary moments of sisterhood, where women find solace and understanding in each other's experiences. The director's ability to seamlessly interweave these two narratives within a concise runtime is a testament to her remarkable talent and authenticity. Scenes that depict conversations with others as if they were face-to-face with herself are particularly striking and leave a lasting impression.

There are a few keywords that can represent me: Ovarian cancer, Female, and Documentary Filmmaker. In Bitter Cells, the story begins with my journey as a cancer patient and moves to my relationship with mum. It was my very first time communicating and meeting other OC patients/survivors in life because I didn’t want to label myself as a patient or a sick person. But this film gave me huge courage to accept who I really am, and all the people that I met on this journey even made me change how I perceive other cancer patients/survivors, and who I can be. I strongly hope this film could resonate with people who have the same diagnosis and who are living with cancer patients/survivors, and help to give a deep understanding of cancer patients’ worlds.

• ProducerPARK Huiju
• Cinematography PARK Huiju
• Edit Maria Elena CAPRA
• Sound Diogo CHAVES
• Music Darren SNG
• Cast PARK Huiju, Diane BOOTHBY, HWANG Namim, LEE Nanju

National Film and Television School

huijuya.park@gmail.com / skd12922@naver.com​