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It's a sign of talent when a filmmaker can create a compelling narrative without having to resort to overt dramatics or conflict. Lee Hyunju's Our Love Story (Yeon-ae-dam) is one such example.

This understated South Korean film features a simple story, set in Seoul, about the relationship between Yoonju, a female art student, and Jisu, a wisened female bartender. Yoonju, who has been avoiding dating guys and is preparing for her graduation exhibition, finds herself falling for the more experienced Jisu. But when Jisu moves back home with her single father, who pressures her to find a guy to marry, their relationship becomes strained.

There are no big confrontations, arguments, or shocking surprises.

The low-key drama, in fact, plays out much like an everyday love story—with the exception that it's between two girls.

Our Love Story (Yeon-ae-dam)

While in Canada, lesbians in films may seem nothing new but Lee, in a Georgia Straight interview with a translator at a downtown Vancouver hotel, said that the number of Korean LGBT films remain rare, she said, with only a handful being made over the past few years.

Accordingly, she explained that she wanted to portray LGBT people in a conventional way because she feels that in other films, when they have LGBT characters, they are shown in very dramatic ways.

She wanted to depict a lesbian couple like any other couple that may be in Seoul.

Our Love Story (Yeon-ae-dam)

Although lesbian couples may not be commonly depicted in Korean feature films, she said neither of the two female leads had any issue with the homosexuality involved. In fact, she explained, since most female roles in Korean films are limited, she said that the actresses had heightened interest in the roles because it gave them an opportunity to explore a greater range of acting.

Lee previously made a short film with a lesbian central character—but a much juicier storyline.

In her 2014 short film "Ordinary Family", a girl has to go visit her father who was in accident. While she's there, her father admits that he has a girlfriend and wants to divorce his wife. But it turns out her mother is also having an affair. Amid all of that, the daughter's girlfriend drops in to visit. However, in the end, they find an unusual way to handle the situation as a family.

Lee said that even though the relationships in the story are unconventional, she wanted to show that they could be normal too.

Our Love Story (Yeon-ae-dam)

In future films, she hopes to continue to work on stories about other outsiders, such as foreigners, in future films.

Judging by her work on Our Love Story, many audiences who see her films will hopefully learn to see those who may be deemed on the outside are not all that different from anyone else—and have universal themes that resonate with everyone else.

Our Love Story will screen at the Vancouver International Film Festival at the Cinematheque on Saturday (October 1) at 12:30 p.m. and Monday (October 3) at 9:15 p.m.