The East Asia Film Festival Ireland (EAFFI) is delighted to be partnering with Dublin Lunar New Year to present Aloners, screening at the IFI and online on IFI@Home on the Lunar New Year.

Thoughtfully addressing the phenomenon of holojok — a neologism formed by combining the Korean words holo (alone) and jok (group) to define the growing number of people who prefer to be left alone in one-person households, accounting for one-third of total homes in Seoul — Aloners is the outstanding debut feature from Hong Sung-eun.

Drawing with meticulous precision the various shades of solitude that colour the lives of the film’s protagonists, Hong renders an intimate portrait of intergenerational relationships and asocial behaviours merged with the fear of being alone and feeling alienated in the workplace.

Read more about EAFFI here. View the full Dublin Lunar New Year programme here.