MAIFF 2026  -

Retrospective of Ahn Sung-ki

The Age of Success

Online screening

Fiction

110

minutes

Content Warning:

About the Film

Director

Jang Sun-woo

Country

Korea

Year

1988

Program

Retrospective of Ahn Sung-ki

Curated by

MAFF Programming Team

Description

Synopsis | Pan-chok is assigned to the sales promotion department of Yumi Company, a sweetener manufacturer within the powerful Makkang Group. Injured during an intense sales war with its leading rival, Gammi Company, he comes up with a bold new idea while hospitalized, earning approval from the company’s executives and a position in the planning office. As Pan-chok rises through the ranks, he becomes entangled in a fabricated romance with Seong So-bi, a café madam, in order to obtain confidential information from the competition. But when Gammi Company strikes back with a new product, the battle for market dominance grows even more ruthless, drawing Pan-chok deeper into a world of ambition, manipulation, and corporate excess.

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About the Director
Jang Sun-woo
Director
Jang Sun-woo is a South Korean film director, he first became drawn to filmmaking after discovering the expressive power of cinema through the work of Lee Jang-ho. Introduced to Lee by writer Hwang Sok-yong, Jang began his career as an assistant director. Emerging at a time when few in Korea were pursuing realist cinema, he developed a strong interest in film as a medium for confronting social reality. His experience of imprisonment under martial law following the Gwangju Uprising deeply shaped his understanding of cinema, leading him to explore film as a way to reflect on history, society, and lived experience.
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Awards & Festival Recognition

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