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| yna@yna.co.kr 2026-09-04 08:36:31
SEOUL, Sept. 4 (Yonhap) -- The short-form series "Dad's Home Cooking," produced by director Lee Joon-ik, will meet moviegoers at Lotte Cinema on Sept. 9.
The film offers audiences a chance to watch all 61 episodes, each running about two to three minutes, in one sitting. The total running time is 2 hours and 26 minutes.
Although its running time exceeds that of many commercial films, the ordinary family story draws audiences in with moments that make them laugh and cry.
"Although it is a story about ordinary people, I think we made it engaging by fully utilizing the strengths of the short-form format in the structure and development of the story."
At a press conference held at Lotte Cinema World Tower on Thursday, Lee said, "A short narrative arc continuously unfolds in an engaging way within each roughly two-minute episode," noting that the characteristics of short-form content helped make the work engaging despite its long total running time.
"Dad's Home Cooking" follows Soon-ae (Lee Jung-eun), a wife who has spent her life preparing home-cooked meals to meet the demands of her patriarchal husband, Ha-eung (Jung Jin-young), after she loses her ability to cook following an accident. The family drama is based on a webtoon of the same name by artist Gorita.
Lee, who has mainly directed films in the drama genre, including "The King and the Clown" (2005) and "The Book of Fish" (2021), said, "Most short-form works have been provocative in an effort to grab viewers' attention in a short amount of time," adding, "I was very concerned about whether I could make a short-form work that would be entertaining."
He said the approach to writing a short-form screenplay differed from that of a film and expressed satisfaction with how the story was structured thanks to writer Shin Dong-sun, who adapted the script to the short-form format.
Lee Jung-eun, who plays Soon-ae, also said she focused on maintaining the audience's curiosity in a way suited to the short-form format.
"Because the story consists of connected two-minute episodes, each episode ended with a scene that made viewers curious about what would happen next," she said. "I also focused on maintaining that curiosity at the end of each episode."
Lee said the vertical screen format resulted in a work that focuses more closely on the characters' inner lives. Short-form dramas are often presented in vertical format because they are primarily consumed on smartphones and other mobile devices.
"With a horizontal screen, you often need several shots to show a situation, whereas a vertical screen quickly conveys the characters' inner thoughts and individual perspectives, giving the work the feel of a psychological drama," he said. "As the characters are connected through editing, the focus on the psychology emerging from their relationships seems to have increased the level of immersion."
Another advantage of the short-form format was that it could be produced at a lower cost than a film because the narrower frame captures less of the scene. "Dad's Home Cooking" was completed with a small crew of 33, compact cameras and just 14 shooting days, with a production budget of about 500 million won.
"If we had used a horizontal screen, the production cost would have been more than five times higher," Lee said. "The strength of short-form content is its low cost."
"Dad's Home Cooking" was first unveiled in theaters after being invited to the "Short-Form Cinema" special program at the 30th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival held in July.
Following the positive response from audiences at the festival, the short-form drama, which had not originally been planned for a theatrical release, will now meet audiences in cinemas.
Lee said, "Among the films recently released in theaters, there seem to be fewer family films or works that stay true to the drama genre like 'Dad's Home Cooking' than there used to be." He added, "Whether the screen is vertical or horizontal, I wanted audiences to see it in theaters, so I proposed a theatrical release to the investors."
Lee and the cast encouraged audiences to enjoy the work with their entire families in theaters.
"It is a work that the whole family can watch together, not just older people, but also granddaughters, daughters-in-law and other family members," Lee said. "I hope audiences enjoy it as if they were taking a close look into our everyday lives."
Lee Jung-eun said, "My mother watched 'Dad's Home Cooking' on a laptop and told me she wanted to see it on a big screen." She added, "Because it does not rely on the provocative subject matter typical of short-form dramas, I think it can be enjoyed by a broader range of age groups."
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