Yoon Dan-bi returns with island first-love story 'The World Before' at Toronto

Seven years after “Moving On,” South Korean film-maker Yoon Dan-bi is back with “The World Before,” a coming-of-age story about desire and first love having its world premiere in Toronto’s Platform competition, Variety reported.

The film follows 17-year-old Jin, who has never left the island where she was born. Her quiet life shifts when childhood friend Du-jae returns for his grandmother’s funeral.

Platform is Toronto’s only competitive section, reserved for bold new work. “The World Before” is one of 12 films set for world premieres in this year’s line-up, according to the Korea Times.

Yoon told Variety ahead of the premiere she wanted to capture restlessness and the fever when innocence turns into desire. She wanted to portray that feeling realistically without being overtly sexual, favouring emotion and physical movement over explicit scenes.

The camera moves a lot, she said, as if it had its own soul to create rhythm. That is a sharp break from “Moving On,” which used a still, observational lens. She added that she revises scripts heavily while shooting and writes with that process in mind.

The shoot was organised across two islands during the hot, humid months of the Korean summer. One location was Soan-do in Wando County off Korea’s southern coast, which has no bridge to the mainland, so the crew carried equipment on foot without cars.

Weather refused to cooperate. A typhoon forced the production to reschedule shoots, yet the rain Yoon wanted for key scenes never came that summer.

Local life fed directly into the film. Villagers said one grandmother was the best singer among them, so she was cast for the opening scene. Another small moment stayed in: the two young leads stopping by the roadside to watch ants, something they improvised between takes.

For audiences, this means a slow island summer told through bodies in motion and small, lived-in detail. Jin likes living on the island and does not think about leaving, Yoon said, which gives the reunion its pull.

“The World Before” stars Sim Su-bin and Kim Eo-jin and runs 115 minutes, listed as a South Korea-Japan-France production by the San Sebastian Festival. Sales company M-Appeal boarded the film ahead of Toronto, Screen Daily reported. After Toronto it travels to San Sebastian’s New Directors section.