LEE Jisan
World Premiere
Seunghyun visits a video rental store for a replacement of his grandmother's worn-out ¡°Four Beats¡¯ cassette by Song Dae-kwan. There he meets Jihyung, a classmate who shares his love for trot and claims to know where to find the tape. Afraid of losing his company, Jihyung keeps bringing Seunghyun back to a shuttered store, passing it off as closed for the day. Caught with him by his friends, Seunghyun panics and says something in public he can't take back. Returning alone, Seunghyun learns the truth — the store was gone for good. Jihyung hands him his own copy of ¡°Four Beats¡±, says take care, and leaves. Back home, as the tape plays and his grandmother dances, Seunghyun watches in silence with a bittersweet smile.
The Missing Beat takes its title from Song Dae-kwan's 1998 song "Four Beats" — a track that uses trot music as both its subject and theme, carrying a quiet defiance against those who dismiss and look down on the genre. By bringing together Korean high school students, who fear standing out from the norm, and trot, a genre with its own history of being scorned and pushed aside, The Missing Beat hopes to move our society toward a deeper respect for one another's individuality and tastes.
Lee Jisan studies film at Anyang Arts High School. His debut short Jisan-ri (2022) drew from the story behind his own name. He won the President of Kookmin University Award at the 24th Korea Youth Media Festival for Class Mate Lee (2024), and has since directed The Missing Beat and Sugar Rush! (2025).