Swiss-Korean Director Hae-Sup Sin Awarded the Allwyn Residency Fellowship in Los Angeles

Swiss-Korean director Hae-Sup Sin has been selected as the recipient of the Allwyn Residency Fellowship at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival.

The fellowship, which is awarded as part of Future Frames, a program for young European filmmakers, offers one participant the opportunity to take part in a tailor-made professional program in Los Angeles to accelerate the next stage of their career.

Sin impressed the jury with his short film “Ban Dal” (Half-moon). The film tells the story of a Swiss adoptive mother and her son, who travel to South Korea to meet his biological mother.

“His work focuses on cross-cultural stories set within diasporic communities, exploring questions of identity, belonging and cultural memory,” according to a statement.

The fellowship is awarded for the fourth time by Allwyn, European Film Promotion and the Karlovy Vary Film Festival. It is organized in collaboration with the Hollywood talent agencies United Talent Agency and Range Media Partners.

The one-month residency in Los Angeles includes individual mentoring, job shadowing, specialized training and one-on-one meetings with producers, distributors and other key professionals from the U.S. film industry.

Karel Och, artistic director of the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, said the festival “has always been a place of discovery,” and thanks to the Future Frames initiative and the Allwyn Residency Fellowship, “we can take it a step further. We’re not only introducing young talents to the festival audience, but we’re also actively helping them launch their careers in the very heart of the global film industry.”

Robert Chvátal, CEO of Allwyn, said, “At Allwyn, we firmly believe that success favors those who have the courage to step out of line and seize opportunities. Supporting the next generation of creators is a very meaningful investment in the future of European culture for us. Our goal is to help build bridges between extraordinary talent and the contemporary world of the film industry.”

EFP chief Irina Ignatiew-Lemke said, “European cinema brings incredible inner strength, courage, and a unique diversity of stories to the global stage. Our mission at EFP is to help these young voices be heard far beyond Europe’s borders.”

Sin studied at the Zurich University of the Arts, where he completed his bachelor’s degree in 2019, followed by a master’s degree in feature film directing in 2025. He is currently developing his first feature film, “Some Korean Summer.”

The fellowship has been awarded annually since 2023. The first director to receive the award was Amalie Maria Nielsen of Denmark, followed by her compatriot William Sehested Høeg in 2024. Last year, the winner was Simon Schneckenburger of Germany.