Shot in Toronto in the dead of winter, pic follows sullen Korean teenager Aimie (Kim), who recently moved West with her mother (Bokja Kim), and her struggle -- or rather, her refusal -- to find her place in her bewildering new surroundings. Her only friend is a gangly Korean youth (Taegu Andy Kang), and as their relationship swings from casual sexual experimentation to irrational jealousy, Sarah Levy's handheld camerawork captures the awkward emotional tango of insecure teens in a way that feels painfully authentic. Above all a meditation on loneliness, the narrative is frequently interrupted by static landscape shots accompanied by Aimie reading letters to her absent dad -- stabs at poetry that feel less poetic, and more calculated, with every recurrence.

Camera (color, 16mm-to-DV), Sarah Levy; editor, Kim; sound (Dolby Digital), Andrew Choi; associate producer, Stephanie Markowitz. Reviewed at Sundance Film Festival (competing), Jan. 23, 2006. Korean dialogue. Running time: 82 MIN.