
Seoul Station, dust alarms go off regularly. Tae San is homeless here. At first glance, he looks different from other homeless people. With Mr. Kim and Do Joon, they live as a family in underpasses or empty stores. One day, Tae San meets art student Moa and draws a picture with her on a dusty car. Tae San and Moa’s ‘Dust Art’ drawings start becoming widely known through social media. Through the cuts on his arms associated with suicide and the sporadic images, we learn that Tae San received great shock in the past and still has not recovered. Then Tae San starts having a positive outlook on life and becomes free from the trauma through the dust drawings. Through Tae San’s explanation on ‘Tyndall phenomenon’, the film tells us that homeless life and dust art are essentially the same. “Even an invisible being has a story to tell.” DUST-MAN seems to convey a message that art can project a light of hope not only to the world covered with dust but also for the artist themselves. (Source: JIFF) ~~ Release dates: May 8, 2020 (Festival) || April 7, 2021 (Cinema) Edit Translation
- English
- 中文(台灣)
- magyar / magyar nyelv
- עברית / עִבְרִית
- Native Title: 더스트 맨
- Also Known As: Deoseuteumaen , 遊走塵市間
- Screenwriter & Director: Kim Na Kyung
- Genres: Drama
Where to Watch Dust-Man
Cast & Credits
- Woo Ji HyunTae SanMain Role
- Shim Dal GiMo AhMain Role
- Kang Gil WooDo JoonMain Role
- Min Kyung JinMr. KimMain Role
- Jeon Woon JongByung SooSupport Role
- Sung RyungSung RyungSupport Role
Reviews

"Fine dust is hard to see, we forget about it, though it's everywhere"
Fair warning, Dust-Man is the type of film I enjoy--independent, centered around art, and involved redemption. The filming, music, and acting were not polished, but somewhere it just hit that sweet spot of theatrical enjoyment for me.Tae San is homeless and looks out for Mr. Kim, an older man, and Do Joon who is in his 30s like Tae San. One night Tae San observes a young woman painting a mural in a small tunnel. When he returns the next night, the city has painted the walls white. Mo Ah passes by and tells him it’s okay, she does these murals to force the city to clean up these spaces. Tae San shows her how to create art on the fine dust collected on cars and other surfaces. The two develop a friendship over art that is only held back by the darkness of Tae San’s past.
I enjoyed the impermanent art created by the two, art that would eventually be blown, wiped, or washed away. The two understood that art didn’t have to be permanent to be meaningful. Their images showed what was, what is, and what could be, hampered only by their imagination. Though Tae San’s art was unbounded, his life was a cage created by his memory. Until he found the key to unlock the door he was stuck on an “endless journey.”
Homelessness was portrayed as a life choice with the three men shown which was not very accurate. Most homelessness is caused by unaffordable housing, unsustainable wages and poverty, substance abuse, health issues, and mental illness. For women, abusive relationships can drive them out to the streets with children. Despite the white washed version, the director did try to show that homelessness, like fine dust, was everywhere, but often invisible. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it. And like personal problems and pain, it needed to be faced. Tae San’s art and friendship with Mo Ah revealed the key he had hidden under mounds of dust and ash. Dust-Man was gritty and unpolished but showed that dreams could be carried by the dust in the wind*.
28 August 2025
*Apologies to Kansas/Dust in the Wind for applying the same term
