BONG Joon-ho and Hong Sangsoo Invited to Cannes Competition

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BONG Joon-ho and Hong Sangsoo Invited to Cannes Competition

Apr 14, 2017

Writer by Pierce Conran
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Five Korean Films in Official Selection for 70th Edition

On Thursday morning in Paris on April 13th, the Cannes Film Festival revealed its official selection for next month’s 70th edition. Five works from Korea made it into the lineup, including BONG Joon-ho’s Okja and Hong Sangsoo’s The Day After in Competition. Hong will also feature with Claire’s Camera in Special Screenings, while the Midnight Screenings lineup includes both BYUN Sung-hyun’s The Merciless and JUNG Byung-gil’s The Villainness.

Featuring in Competition for the first time, though he has been invited to other sections before with his works The Host (2006) and Mother (2009), is internationally renowned director BONG Joon-ho with his latest international production Okja. Backed by online streaming giant Netflix, the film stars Tilda Swinton, Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Dano and new Korean actress AHN Seo-hyun. The film will bow on Netflix on June 28th.

Hong Sangsoo has the rare distinction of having two films featured on the Croisette this year. Claire’s Camera, which he shot during the festival last year with Isabelle Huppert and KIM Min-hee, is part of the Special Screenings lineup, while The Day After, which was shot in Seoul earlier this year with KIM Min-hee, marks his fourth time in Competition, following Woman Is The Future Of Man (2004), Tale of Cinema (2005) and In Another Country (2012). The films are his eighth and ninth invitations to Cannes. Earlier this year, Hong already debuted On the Beach at Night Alone in the Berlinale Competition, where it earned the Silver Bear for Best Actress for star KIM Min-hee.

The Merciless, the third work by director BYUN following the drama The Beat Goes On (2012) and the romantic comedy Whatcha Wearin’ (2012), is a prison-set thriller with SUL Kyung-gu and IM Si-wan. Following his stuntman doc Action Boys (2008) and revenge thriller Confession of Murder (2012), JUNG debuts in Cannes with the action film The Villainness, featuring KIM Ok-vin in the lead.

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