The latest from prolific Korean director Hong Sangsoo, By the Stream sees Jeonim, an artist, and her uncle Chu, a film director, working together at a local university, confronting old memories and examining what it means to be truly human. Director Hong Sangsoo, whose charming films are MSPIFF favorites, creates another delightful comedy of manners.

Jeonim works at a university and is tasked with finding a director for the school’s skit festival. The prior director was fired, and so she turns to her uncle Chu, who once directed a skit there nearly 40 years ago. In the course of their work, old secrets are unearthed, and Jeonim, Chu, and others in the production explore their loneliness, expectations, failures and joy. Hong Sangsoo’s newest film lingers over meals, acting exercises, walks, and conversations, and what emerges is a finely crafted cinematic tapestry that captures the bittersweet nature of life as only Sangsoo can.