Korean Cineastes Going to Venice

Bong Joonho, Director of PARASITE, will be the president of the International Jury of the Competition at the 78th Venice International Film Festival, which is to be held in Venice, Italy, from September 1 to 11, 2021. This is the first time that a Korean filmmaker has been appointed as the president of the International Jury at the Venice Film Festival, one of the world's top three film festivals. Bong Joonho said, “I'm honored to join the Venice International Film Festival that carries a long history and beautiful cinematic traditions. As the president of the Jury, and more importantly as a perpetual cinephile, I'm ready to admire and applaud all the great films selected by the festival.” 

In addition, Actor Jeon Jongseo, who is considered the next major player to lead Korean cinema, is also receiving a lot of attention as she entered the competition section of the film festival with her Hollywood film. Traveling to the Lido for the first time will be Burning (2018) actress Jun Jongseo with her Hollywood debut Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon, which was invited to the main competition. Following her breakout debut in Lee Changdong’s Burning, Jun Jongseo appeared in the Netflix film The Call (2020) and quickly forged a path into Hollywood after being cast in Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon. From Ana Lily Amirpour, the director of A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, the fantasy film also stars Kate Hudson, Craig Robinson, Evan Whitten and Ed Skrein. 

Kim Gina is set to return to the Venice International Film Festival this year with her new VR shot Tearless. Kim previously earned the Best Virtual Reality Short Story in 2017 for her film Bloodless. 

Tearless is an immersive VR work that focuses on a concentration camp called ‘Monkey House’ where comfort women for the U.S. military were imprisoned and treated. Monkey House is a nickname for a dropout camp established in the early 1970s by the Korean government to isolate and treat women who are presumed to have been infected with sexually transmitted diseases and operated by the U.S. military's medical technology and manpower.