A Barefoot Dream aka Higanjima is a drama film

Drama film

A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...

 2010 co-production between South Korea and Japan

Cinema of Japan

The has a history that spans more than 100 years. Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world – as of 2009 the fourth largest by number of feature films produced. Movies have been produced in Japan since 1897, when the first foreign cameramen arrived...

 directed by Kim Tae-gyun

Kim Tae-gyun (director)

Kim Tae-gyun is a South Korean film director. His 2010 film A Barefoot Dream was selected as the South Korean entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 83rd Academy Awards but it did not make the final shortlist.-Director:...

. This film is based on the true story of Coach Kim Sin-Hwan, who was East Timor's 'Hiddink'. The film was selected as the South Korean entry for the Best Foreign Language Film

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...

 at the 83rd Academy Awards

83rd Academy Awards

The 83rd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences , honored the best films of 2010 and took place February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. EST. During the ceremony, Academy Awards ...

 but it didn't make the final shortlist.

Plot

Kim Won-kang (Park Hie-soon), a former soccer prospect whose life didn’t turn out quite promising. He heads to East Timor

East Timor

The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...

 thinking that there would be plenty of opportunities for him. One day, he sees a group of street kids playing ball with bare feet. Thinking he can score by selling soccer shoes, he opens a sports equipment store, but realizes none of the kids can afford those fancy shoes or jerseys. Again, despaired, he is about to close up the store. Then, he decides to teach the kids how to play ball. Penniless and didn't even have shoes, they decided to compete at the International Youth Soccer Championship in Japan.

Cast

• Park Hie-soon
  Park Hie-soon
  Park Hie-soon is a South Korean stage and film actor whose best known roles include a ruthless investor in The Scam and a tough cop in Seven Days for which he won Best Supporting Actor at the 2008 Blue Dragon Film Awards...
  
   as Coach Kim Won-kang
• Ko Chang-seok
  Ko Chang-seok
  Ko Chang-seok is a South Korean actor who has been in a number of Korean films. He is recognizable by his facial hair and larger body size. He and Yu Jun-sang both won the Best Actor award at the 18th annual Icheon Chunsa Film Festival for their roles in A Barefoot Dream and Moss,...
  
   as Park In-gi
• Francisco Varela as Ramos
• Fernando Pinto as Motavio
• Junior Da Costa as Tua
• Marlina Simoes as Josephine
• Kei Shimizu as Dozyo
• Lim Won-hie as Director Poong
• Kim Seo-hyeong as Reporter Yu Bo-hyeon
• Jo Jin-ung as James

See also

• List of submissions to the 83rd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
• List of South Korean submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film