During WWII, eight Korean girls survived kidnapping, torture and sexual slavery by the Japanese Imperial Army. They returned home, only to spend the next sixty years outcast by society. These eight women are among an estimated 200,000 victims. Now in their eighties, the women continue to fight for justice, even as their time is running out.
First-time director Hein Seok captured the candid lives of these eight survivors for over a year, as they shared their life stories through heartfelt words, paintings and songs. During their seemingly hopeless ordeals, before and after the war, the women find strength in their outrage. But The House of Sharing also reveals a hidden side to the women, who are simply called "halumni" — grandmothers. They are lively, loving, and unexpectedly humorous. It is all the more poignant as the halmunis are rapidly failing in health.
In the end, the audience is invited to learn who the halmunis really are and realize they are more than just victims of inhumanity or symbols of a struggle. They are all of our grandmothers.