The Alleyway

Korea, Qatar | Film 89min, TV 52min | 4K | Color

Logline

A fierce standoff erupts in a quiet South Korean neighborhood when Muslim international students attempt to build a mosque, facing extreme and unyielding resistance from the local residents.

Synopsis

In a quiet residential neighborhood in Daegu, tensions escalate over the construction of a mosque. For Muslim international students, the mosque is more than a place of worship—it is a sanctuary and the heart of their community in a foreign land. Meanwhile, local residents, feeling deceived, fear that their neighborhood will deteriorate. Determined to protect the place they call home, they organize protests for the first time and physically block the construction.

Director's Statement

Conflict between migrants and long-time residents, and the increasingly exclusionary boundaries drawn between them, has become a global phenomenon. The dispute unfolding in Daehyeon-dong, Daegu, is a microcosm of this reality. By observing the origins and evolution of their conflict, the documentary reflects on why antagonism grows between ordinary people, and asks whether coexistence across difference is still possible.

Director & Producer Emmanuel Moonchil PARK