2026 Korea on Screen: The Final Semester(3학년 2학기)
Presented by Korean Cultural Center New York
Thursday, June 4th, 2026, 7:30 PM
Korean Cultural Center New York
(122 E 32nd Street, New York, NY 10016)
Ticket: FREE (RSVP REQUIRED)
* RSVP and seating are first come, first served.
* Doors open 30 minutes before showtime.
* Your tickets will be released to the standby line 10 minutes before the show, so we recommend you arrive early to secure your seats.
* For an additional question, please contact to film@koreanculture.org
* Cancellations must be made at least 48 hours in advance.
* Please note: After three no-shows without notice, you may be subject to restrictions on future reservations.
* All contents featuring Korean dialogue will have English subtitles available.
The Korean Cultural Center New York proudly presents The Final Semester as part of its Korea on Screen series—a year-long screening series celebrating the depth and diversity of Korean cinema. Through feature films, documentaries, short films, and independent productions, the series aims to broaden access to and appreciation of Korean cinema in New York City.
A quietly powerful portrait of youth and labor, The Final Semester follows Chang-woo, a vocational high school student navigating the pressures of his first workplace internship—balancing physical hardship, psychological strain, and the quiet indignities of a system that measures young people by their utility. Director Lee Ran-hee brings a clear-eyed sensitivity to the realities faced by working-class youth in contemporary Korea, grounding the film in the textures of everyday labor and the small dignities that make it bearable.
A prizewinner at the 29th Busan International Film Festival—where it received the Korean Film Directors Guild Plus M Award, the KBS Independent Film Award, the Songwon Citizen Critics Award, and the Best Actor Award—The Final Semester marks Lee Ran-hee as a distinctive new voice in Korean independent cinema.
◆ Program
The Final Semester (3학년 2학기)
Director: Lee Ran-hee
Cast: Yoo Lee-ha, Yang Ji-woon, Kim Seong-guk, Kim So-wan
Runtime: 105 min
Genre: Drama
Release Year: 2024
In the final semester of vocational high school, Chang-woo applies for but fails to get an internship at a mid-sized company. His homeroom teacher recommends a small company that offers both college admission and military service exemption, and Chang-woo starts his internship there. While he can endure the physical difficulties of his first work experience, the psychological pressure is harder to bear. As he learns welding on site and gains recognition for his skills, he feels the satisfaction of buying chicken for his family with his first paycheck—but the path ahead proves far more complicated than he imagined.