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
Nineteen-year-old Chang-woo spends the final semester of his school years not in a classroom but on the floor of an unfamiliar small factory, working as an industrial intern.
Even under the cold judgment of his supervisor, he discovers the joy of work and a sense of camaraderie with his coworkers, tasting all at once the excitement and fear of stepping into the working world— its sweetness and its bitterness. But an unexpected farewell with a fellow worker makes Chang-woo hesitate, and pulls him a step back…
The film follows the heart-pounding first steps that each of us once took: the final semester we all share, those uncertain beginnings filled with small courage and quiet hope.