Haru’s New YearHaru’s New Year

It is New Year’s Day, and for Haru, who had immigrated from Japan to Canada, everything is unfamiliar. On the first day of school, when Haru bows while greeting her classmates, something that she had tirelessly practiced, her schoolmates react with laughter. Not only the language, but every little action is different on Haru’s day. Can Haru settle in Canada even after enduring this long, boring, and self-hindering time? The film unveils the psychology and reality of Haru through mise-en-scène on the screen. It is worth noting the water scene that captures the CN Tower fireworks on her first day in Canada and the feeling of frustration Haru feels after school. It is Frances, her neighbor and classmate that saves her life from endless drowning. Although the film is set in Canada, a so-called immigrant-friendly country, it’s not easy for those with different backgrounds to adapt. As in any other society, it is the friends and neighbors who offer their helping hands that allow the immigrants to settle in. The film hints an open future describing Haru’s first day as an immigrant on New Year’s Day as a first step into a new world. The director Alice Il Shin travels around Japan, Korea, and North America, observing the life of diaspora. (LEE Seungmin)